View of the Great Court.

Close-up view of the Reading Room.

The central quadrangle of the British Museum in London was redeveloped and opened by Queen Elizabeth II to become the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court in 2000. The court has a tessellated glass roof by Foster and Partners (Architects) and Buro Happold (Engineers) covering the entire court and surrounds the original circular British Museum Reading Room in the centre, now a museum. It is the largest covered square in Europe. The glass and steel roof is made up of 1,656 pairs of glass windowpanes; each of a unique shape because of the undulating nature of the roof. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1107x1557, 536 KB) The Great Court of the British Museum, with the new tessellated roof designed by w:Foster and Partners arching around the original, circular, Reading Room of the British Library. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1107x1557, 536 KB) The Great Court of the British Museum, with the new tessellated roof designed by w:Foster and Partners arching around the original, circular, Reading Room of the British Library. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1200x1600, 507 KB) Great Hall, British Museum, London, UK. Source: Jan van der Crabben (Photographer) File links The following pages link to this file: British Museum Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1200x1600, 507 KB) Great Hall, British Museum, London, UK. Source: Jan van der Crabben (Photographer) File links The following pages link to this file: British Museum Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used... In architecture a quadrangle, or more colloquially, quad (especially at Oxford University), is a space on a college or university campus usually but not always enclosed on four sides by buildings, although this enclosing may be more or less loosely defined. ... The centre of the museum was redeveloped in 2000 to become the Great Court, with a tessellated glass roof by Foster and Partners surrounding the original Reading Room. ... For other uses, see London (disambiguation). ... Elizabeth II in an official portrait as Queen of Canada (on the occasion of her Golden Jubilee in 2002, wearing the Sovereigns badges of the Order of Canada and the Order of Military Merit) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary) (born 21 April 1926), styled HM The... This article is about the year 2000. ... A tessellated plane seen in street pavement. ... 30 St Mary Axe, one of Londons most popular new buildings, towers above its neighbours. ... Ceiling of the Reading Room The British Museum Reading Room, situated in the centre of the Great Court of the British Museum, used to be the main reading room of the British Library. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ...

Contraversially, some of the stone in the court is from France rather than being Portland Stone from southern England. The Cenotaph, in Whitehall, London, England, is made from Portland stone Portland stone is limestone from the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages English Capital London Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population –mid-2004...

Within the Great Court, there are shops and a café. It is deliberately open for longer that the British Museum itself. The court acts as a centrally linking point for the museum, somewhat like the Pyramid at the Louvre in Paris. Louvre courtyard Louvre Pyramid is the large glass pyramid at the front of the Louvre museum in Paris. ... I.M. Peis Louvre Pyramid: one of the entrances to the galleries lies below the glass pyramid. ... The Eiffel Tower, the international symbol of the city For other uses, see Paris (disambiguation). ...

External links

• Great Court, British Museum including 360° panorama