Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, pedestrians will continue to have access along the Lane in both directions.

It is anticipated that the work will take 2.5 years to complete.

Chimneys are an important feature of the Colleges and streetscapes of Cambridge including on frequently-photographed Trinity Lane. The design reflects this traditional city architecture, but in a modern way by using them to house the extraction system to allow air transfer in and out of the building.

Yes, we have responded to comments from the public and have adjusted our design to reflect concerns expressed. The chimneys are lower than in the original design and have a new slit design feature to unite them with the chimney that already exists on this façade of First Court.

Christ’s Lane is a busy thoroughfare. A long stone bench will stretch the length of the new Library wall providing seating for Lane users and encouraging them to stop and rest.

The new design offers views through a specially commissioned gate into Bath Court, which will be planted as a garden, and of the Bodley Library bay window. The artist-designed metal gate will replace the current solid wooden gate.

At night time, the streetscape will be enhanced by the soft light which will fall on the Lane from the Library windows. As the Library will be open 24 hours a day, the presence of light on the Lane from the windows at night will create an added sense of security. This light will be controlled so that local residents are not disturbed.

Christ’s Lane used to be a private service yard for the neighbouring Bradwell’s Court Shopping Centre. When the area was redeveloped in the 2000s Christ’s Lane was opened to pedestrian thoroughfare exposing the plain, uninteresting Library wall to the public.

The proposal is a much more active and engaging frontage, with windows and light and glimpses of library books and Bath Court.

The new library is on the northern side of the Lane and will have minimal impact in terms of shading the Lane. In response to concerns expressed by the public we commissioned a report which demonstrated how very little the new building would impact the light in the Lane.

The new design will enhance the Lane and improve safety because gentle light from the Library windows will be cast onto the street 24 hours per day.

Our previous Library - built in the 1970s - is no longer fit for purpose and is not accessible. Student needs have changed, particularly in the aftermath of the covid pandemic, and this design provides a range of different social, study and seating areas as well as space for over 30,000 books.

Following an extensive survey, the site of the existing Library was identified as the most appropriate site for a new building. Demolition means that we can site the new building a further distance away from the historic Bodley Library while retaining the connection between the two.

The new project will connect and combine three important locations in the College: the Library, the kitchens and Upper Hall, and the Buttery. 

Two new passenger lifts - one in the new library and one in Bath Court - will improve connectivity. The library lift will serve the different levels of the library, connecting to the historic Bodley Library, the new public exhibition space and Special Collections Reading Room.  The Bath Court lift will connect to the Upper Dining Hall and the Old Combination Room (which can be booked for public functions). This means that there will be step free access across this range of buildings for the first time in the College’s history.

We are on track to achieve our commitment to net zero carbon emissions aiming to achieve a 30% carbon reduction by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. We will remove all gas for cooking, heating and hot water in the kitchens and library as part of the project.

Operational and embodied carbon targets form part of the project brief and will monitored throughout the project development. 

Biodiversity, habitat improvement and water conservation will form part of the new soft landscape in Bath Court. A rainwater capture system will feed a small body of water to improve biodiversity alongside multi-sensory planting.

Acoustic improvement will be achieved in both the newly built and refurbished areas.

A multi-faith room is located at the ground floor level near the Bodley Library end of Bath Court. It will provide natural light, privacy screens on windows and provision for ablutions.

The Library is for the use of students at the College, but the enhanced Buttery will be open to the public with access to the courtyard area called Bath Court which looks into the Library and towards the historic Bodley Library.

People can visit the College and grounds for no charge between 9am and 12 noon, 7 days of the week. The only time that we close is during the period leading up to exams (May-June) and at Christmas, but it is always best to check ahead for unexpected closures.

The public are also welcome at evensong during term time at 18:00 on a Thursday and 18:30 on a Sunday.

The public is also invited to special events such as the Ascension Day service and during Open Cambridge in September.

This is an unusually high level of open, no charge access for a prominent city centre college and the College considers this an important public benefit as a charity.

Grafton Architects is an international practice based in Dublin co-founded by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara in 1978. They have won numerous awards including, most recently, The Architects Newspaper - Project of the Year Award (2025) for the Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation in Arkansas.

The College ran a design competition and Grafton Architect’s winning design was selected in February 2024 by a panel which included students.

The previous design for a new library received planning permission in 2011 and was renewed in 2016. This design on the same site included a basement. Although still a four storey library, the new design no longer includes a basement, because of concerns about the carbon intensity of providing a new basement and that a basement construction in Bath Court could have a negative impact on the sensitive historic fabric of the building ranges that it.

The new design has Bath Court left open to the air, avoiding any potential for damaging contacts between a courtyard roof and the existing historic fabric.