The renewal and expansion of the Folger Shakespeare Library is the result of more than 10 years of planning to make the institution a more inclusive, experiential, and welcoming place. Excavation work began in December 2020. In addition to the public space, café and galleries, the project also includes new collaborative research spaces, new Reading Room furnishings, HVAC and accessibility improvements in the theater, and updates to the collection storage system. The design responds to a commitment to expand the audience, relevance, and future of the Folger.
The existing living memorial, built in 1932, was designed by Paul Cret. The new work is simultaneously deferential and transformational. It honors the past while increasing access for new audiences. The original building was principally a research library and a repository for works by and about Shakespeare. Its location on East Capitol Street is adjacent to the Library of Congress and diagonally opposite the Supreme Court. It straddles the edge of the federal district and it abuts Capitol Hill residential neighborhoods. KieranTimberlake provided Master Planning, Programming, Design and construction administration services.
The breadth and difficulty of expanding the new program beneath a building on the National Register of Historic Places cannot be understated. Unlike a typical construction process where the building starts from the ground up, a new building was added underneath the existing historic site. Approval by adjoining neighborhoods, the District of Columbia and federal authorities was required. The below-grade addition, beneath the historic terrace at the front of the building, is entered through memorial gardens, providing both quiet and reflection as the visitor moves from the city into a previously hidden world, now revealed and accessible to all.
As a part of the renewal, three artists were commissioned to create works that reflect Folger’s mission and offer visitors creative entry points through which to consider Shakespeare and the early modern world. Included among these is a poem written by US Poet Laureate (1993-1995) and Pulitzer Prize-winner Rita Dove, now inscribed upon the garden wall along the path that leads visitors to the Folger’s new west entrance from East Capitol and 2nd St.
The renewed Folger creates new study rooms where researchers can consult more easily with curators or conservators. The historic Reading Room is improved with ergonomically designed furniture and improvements to lighting and technology. New materials and experienced will be presented to the public, including interpreted exhibitions and the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s first folio–all previously inaccessible and hidden from view.
