10 Facts about the Great Court at the British Museum

The Great Court at the British Museum was one of London’s long-lost spaces. Originally a garden, soon after its completion in the mid-nineteenth century it was filled by the round Reading Room and its associated bookstacks. Without this space the Museum was like a city without a park. This retrofit project is about its reinvention.

Learn more about one of the largest covered public squares in Europe, from the 'fritting' design technique which filters ultraviolet rays and reduces solar gain, to the films the project has appeared in.

1. The Great Court was opened on 6 December 2000 by Queen Elizabeth II.

Her Majesty the Queen formally declares the Great Court open. © Nigel Young / Foster + Partners

2. Spanning two acres, the Great Court is the largest covered public square in Europe.

Aerial view of Great Court at the British Museum. © Jeffrey Milstein

A view of the Great Court from the entrance hall. © Nigel Young / Foster + Partners

The Great Court increased public space in the Museum by forty per cent, allowing visitors to move freely around the Main floor for the first time in 150 years. © Nigel Young / Foster + Partners

3. The roof contains enough glass to glaze 500 domestic greenhouses. It is composed of 3,312 individual panels of glass, each one a unique triangle.

4. The roof panels are screenprinted with small dots on 50% of their surface – a technique called ‘fritting.' The fritting filters ultraviolet rays and reduces solar gain.

Located high in the Great Court and sheltered beneath a fabric awning, the restaurant terrace offers spectacular views of the activity below and the roof above. © Nigel Young / Foster + Partners

Bridge with a glazed floor and glass balustrades forms the link between the restaurant terrace and the existing upper-level galleries in the museum's north range. © Nigel Young / Foster + Partners

5. Measuring 96 metres in length, the courtyard is equal to the length of the façade of Buckingham Palace.

6. The rebuilding of the south entrance of the courtyard used 2,000 tonnes of stone, with the largest piece of stone weighing eight tonnes.

7. The practice’s redesign allowed the Reading Room to be opened to the public for the first time in history as a major exhibition space. It now serves as the Museum’s archive and is accessible to researchers and students.

8. 1.5 miles of Flexiweave, a material similar to surgical bandage, has been used to repair the interior of the dome – enough to wrap 160 Egyptian mummies.

9. Over the course of 33 months of construction, the museum stayed open to the public without a single day of closure.

10. The Great Court has featured in films such as ‘Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb’ and television series such as ‘The Crown.’