British Library in Leeds: world-class, local roots

Our challenge

How might we cultivate a warm welcome at the British Library in Leeds—growing with diverse local communities—while contributing to both a national and international platform?

Imagination works

Narrative Threads were appointed in 2023 to shape an interpretive vision for a permanent British Library presence in Leeds. We developed a collaborative process that brought minds and experiences together from across the organisation, weaving together their expertise. Temple Works, the Library’s potential future home, is a much-loved icon rooted in Leeds’ industrial past, an embodiment of the idea of dreaming big.

Flowing with people and ideas

Through an open, iterative process—centred around the questions of WHY, WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and HOW—we explored both the local ecosystem and the broader international context of the project. At the heart of our inquiry was the core question: What does it mean to be a national library in Leeds?

Workshops in Leeds and St Pancras were complemented by thematic field trips—for example, exploring the idea of ‘a warm welcome’—which enriched our understanding and helped shape a shared reference bank for the project. At every stage, we prioritised relevance to audiences, placing inclusivity and a sense of welcome at the forefront. The overarching aim: to connect people, knowledge, and culture in meaningful, lasting ways.

Uniquely Leeds, uniquely British Library

Our approach envisions a library rooted in the present and looking to the future—drawing on recorded human history in its many forms as a springboard into the real and the imagined. Positioned in the North of England, it is a generative, open, trusted resource, relevant to communities and shaped by the spirit of Leeds, bold, confident and welcoming.

Output

The resultant Interpretation Framework was developed for internal purposes, setting the foundation for the content and design approach which will shape the Library’s spaces and exhibitions.