Housed in the Grade I listed buildings of Lambeth Palace, Lambeth Palace Library has been open to the public for over 400 years. The collection is on national and international significance and is "demonstrably the most important dedicated religious archive and library in the United Kingdom". However, the buildings, many of the medieval, are damaging the collection. The housing of the Library in proper facilities is paramount to the preservation of both the Collection and the Palace. The site of the new archive is set in the Grade II listed garden at Lambeth Palace. As well as being part of a registered park and garden in a conservation area, the site is also of significant archaeological interest, a borough Grade I listed Site of Importance (SINC), and in a high flood risk zone. Balancing all of these factors while preserving this internationally significant collection has resulted in a design which celebrates the context in which it is set without overshadowing it, drawing on the historic connections of the past, and making both the collection and Lambeth Palace more accessible to the public.