Central Library to get air con

Happy days. Imperial College will finally be taking steps to solve issues with temperature regulation at the Central Library. Probably.

According to a teasing announcement from Library Services just before Christmas, “early indications are that a project to improve the temperature at Central Library will begin in 2017.” This comes after felix launched a campaign last summer demanding humane studying conditions in the Central Library, notorious for reaching face-melting temperatures, particularly during summer term. According to Library Services, temperature regulation has been “the single biggest source of complaint from the student body for several years”.

This development is meant to be the second phase of a larger project which began in 2014 and will most likely be taking place over this academic year’s summer vacation period hopefully to be completed by autumn 2017. Phase one saw the Central Library improve on issues with overcrowding and limited computer availability; the Science Museum Library was evicted from the third floor and the space was turned into a study area.

Phase two was meant to deal with temperature regulation and indeed there was a successful application for Planning Permission back in 2014, of a ventilation plant that would sit on the roof of Sherfield. The plant, occupying a space of 68 cubic meters, would be connected to the library by internally built ductwork.

Unfortunately the works, reportedly projected to cost an estimated £13.5m, had been put on ice, as only half the funding necessary had been secured. It appears though that the felix petition, which gathered 13,000 signatures (just under 10% of the student body), along with pressure from the Union and some NSS-induced panic have convinced College to go through with the plans.

Despite the hype, it has been stressed to us that nothing is set in stone and there are still many sign-offs the proposed project needs to pass before promises are made and plans are finalised. This is perhaps why all announcements so far have been rather non-committal and Library Services, unable to contain their excitement, went rogue and spilled the beans. However, the Library service recently made public a preliminary timetable of the works, bringing dreams of a well ventilated library one step closer to realisation.

According to the timetable (which remains subject to approval from College) some preliminary works will be taking place during the end of this month/beginning of next month, including the erection of scaffolding and the relocation of some of the library’s books and seating. Some noisy work will also be taking place throughout spring term but it will be restricted between 6:00 and 9:00am.

No details have been released yet regarding plans for the summer term, however it is expected that the bulk of the works will be taking place during this academic year’s summer break. Though generally the student community is excited for the prospect of study areas that don’t send them into thermal shock, some students remain doubtful. “Yeah I wouldn’t be too optimistic”, says one student. “I swear a rumor about library air-con gets spread at least once a year and has been for as long as I can remember.”

Indeed, climate control has plagued the Central Library for over a decade. The last major overhaul started in 2007 and cost over £10m. Issues with cooling of the higher levels had from the beginning of the project become apparent, with the top two floors hitting 30 degrees Celsius. Efforts to provide solar shading were blocked by Westminster City Council due to aesthetic reasons (considering the aesthetics of the rest of South Ken Campus, one can only wonder) and the Chiller and Service Tower constructed on the roof of Sherfield and which cost over £6m failed to hit the spot quite the way it was meant to. College’s last multi-million investment in Library Services, the Central Library door, has only managed to keep the heat in.