Round Reading Room in Maughan Library, Reading room in a university library in the City of London, United Kingdom
The Round Reading Room in Maughan Library is a dodecagonal space within a 19th-century building in the City of London. The room features a zinc ceiling, tall windows, and a generous open floor plan, created in 1863 following the model of similar spaces in the British Museum.
The building was originally founded in 1232 as the Domus Conversorum, later became the Rolls Chapel, and from 1865 served as the Public Record Office, storing national documents like the Magna Carta. In 1998 King's College London acquired the property and opened it as a research library in 2002.
The room's name derives from its geometric form and was designed as a hub for scholarly work. Visitors can observe how Victorian learning spaces were conceived as places with deeper meaning, where the architecture itself invites focused study and reflection.
Access requires a valid ID or registration at the building's information desk. The space is part of a working university library offering study seating, cast-iron staircases, and natural light from tall windows throughout the day.
The space was featured in Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code, lending it an air of intrigue that visitors sense upon entering. A second zinc ceiling decorated with Tudor roses and fleur-de-lys motifs remains one of the few surviving examples of its kind in Britain.
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