London Library is a Grade II listed building in the Westminster local planning authority area, England. First listed on 24 February 1958. Library. 9 related planning applications.
London Library
- WRENN ID
- open-gateway-shade
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Westminster
- Constituency
- Cities of London and Westminster MP: Rachel Blake (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 24 February 1958
- Type
- Library
- Address
- London Library, 14, St James's Square Sw1, City of Westminster, SW1Y 4LG
- OS grid reference
- TQ 294 803
- Coordinates
- 51.50736, -0.13682
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The London Library, located at No. 14 St. James's Square, is a library built between 1896 and 1898 by J. Osborne Smith. The building features a Portland stone front and a slate roof, showcasing a slightly eclectic design with plenty of windows that highlight its function. It consists of three tall storeys and a basement. The ground floor includes a semicircular arched doorway on the left and two stone mullioned and transomed Jacobethan windows. On the first floor, there are three "Georgian" sash windows with architraves, the central window being tripartite and pedimented, set within a semicircular arched recess. The top floor is adorned with three tall Jacobethan windows, each with arched heads. The front of the building is capped with a pediment. Inside, the original library is well-lit and has undergone extensions between 1921 and 1923, along with a bookstore added from 1932 to 1934 by Mews and Davis. Notably, the Prevost Room features a fine chimneypiece by Robert Adam, originally from Shelburne, later Lansdowne, House in Berkeley Square.
Local climate
London Library sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 98% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 57% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 9 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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