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British Museum architectural roof joining the two buildings together. The Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, designed by architect Lord Foster of Thames Bank, was opened by Her Majesty the Queen on 6 December 2000. Following the departure to St Pancras of the Museum's library departments in 1998, now the British Library, the bookstacks surrounding Sydney Smirke's round Reading Room were dismantled and a new floor constructed across the courtyard. This was then roofed over to provide the largest covered square in Europe. The Reading Room was restored to its 1857 decorative scheme and new facilities (Clore Education Centre, Sainsbury African Galleries, Ford Young Visitors Centre, BP and Stevenson Lecture Theatres) constructed below. The scheme also created new access to other galleries.
British Museum architectural roof joining the two buildings together. The Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, designed by architect Lord Foster of Thames Bank, was opened by Her Majesty the Queen on 6 December 2000. Following the departure to St Pancras of the Museum's library departments in 1998, now the British Library, the bookstacks surrounding Sydney Smirke's round Reading Room were dismantled and a new floor constructed across the courtyard. This was then roofed over to provide the largest covered square in Europe. The Reading Room was restored to its 1857 decorative scheme and new facilities (Clore Education Centre, Sainsbury African Galleries, Ford Young Visitors Centre, BP and Stevenson Lecture Theatres) constructed below. The scheme also created new access to other galleries.