We care for one of the largest and most wide-ranging architectural collections in the world. Over four million items together represent a unique body of knowledge that is rich and global in scope. The RIBA Collections can be consulted through our two main sites below. You can also browse our digitised material through our online image library, RIBApix, or contact us with a collections query.
Download our introduction guide to the RIBA Collections.
Find out how we try to answer this question, which RIBA Library and Collections sources we refer to along the way, and why some questions remain unanswered
You might have heard that we look after a historic collection and a world-class architecture library – but why should you care? Here’s what you need to know about the RIBA Library and Collections
Discover even more stories, articles and interviews drawing from our expansive collection of architectural material
The RIBA Collections can be consulted in-person through our two main locations:
More places to discover the RIBA Collections:
Our items have been collected and catalogued over almost two centuries, with some items dating back to the 15th century. Some materials and descriptions contain outdated and offensive language or need further contextualising. We are working to address this on our Unpacking imperialism pages, and to ensure that our collections and descriptions are appropriate to our audiences today. For questions or comments about this work, please contact us.
Search catalogued material across our collections through the online catalogue, or browse digitised material through our online image library.
In this research guide, explore just a few of the pioneering professionals represented in our library and collections
Throughout history, architectural spaces have formed sites where LGBTQ+ communities have explored, celebrated or concealed sexual and gender identities
Browse our growing collection of research guides, highlighting the range of people, practices and projects represented in the RIBA Collections
The RIBA drawing collection includes almost one million architectural drawings from sketches and preliminary designs to presentation and technical drawings.
The collection focuses on British architecture, with all significant architects from the Renaissance to the present day represented. Major groups include the work of Inigo Jones, Sir Christopher Wren, and several generations of the Wyatt, Pugin, Scott, and Waterhouse families. More recent collections include the surviving drawings of Edwin Lutyens, Ernö Goldfinger, and Denys Lasdun.
The Robert Elwall Photographs Collection comprises around 1.5 million images from the earliest days of photography to the present day.
The collection includes photographic archives of individual architects and practices, travel and topographic images from across the world, press photographs from major architectural journals, and large bodies of work by some of the best known architectural photographers of the 20th century. The collection includes prints, negatives, slides, transparencies, photographically illustrated books and digital files.
The RIBA Collections holds a wide range of objects and artefacts documenting the evolution of the architectural profession over the past four centuries.
This includes various pieces of drawing furniture and measuring instruments, offering insight into the changing environment of the architecture office. Smaller items include coins, architecture themed toys, and the RIBA silver collection. We also care for 120 portraits depicting former RIBA presidents, and have been collecting architectural medals since our foundation.
The archives and manuscripts collection includes the personal correspondence, journals, notebooks, administrative files, and unpublished texts of famous British architects.
The collection also features material related to individuals and societies who have helped shape architectural culture globally, including journalists, writers, historians, and educators. This also covers the RIBA institutional archive, which documents our history from the earliest founding documents to recent publications and ephemera.
We care for almost 400 architectural models, representing five centuries of architectural history.
Most models in the collection were created by architects or their collaborators as a key part of their design process., including a wooden model from the 1690s of Easton Neston, which is one of the earliest English architectural models still in existence. Later collections include models of some of the best-known buildings of the twentieth century, from private dwellings to large scale urban developments.
Our Library Reading Room holds books and journals related to every aspect of architectural practice and research.
With over 150,000 books in the collection, 5,000 rare volumes published between 1478 and 1840, and access to around 2,240 periodical titles, it is one of the leading resources in the country for the study of architecture and architectural history. Including manuals and pattern books, large scale volumes on archaeology, and detailed studies of some of the most famous buildings in the world.
Our collection of audio recordings covers lectures, talks, and events with some of the most famous architects.
The RIBA Collections contains almost 1,000 audio recordings dating from the 1970s to the present day. They feature well known architects such as Zaha Hadid, Jane Drew, Ray Eames and Balkrishna Doshi. We are currently digitising these to make a growing number of them available online.
Our institutional archive documents the history of RIBA from its earliest foundational documents to recent publications and ephemera.
This is the largest grouping in our archives collection, and dates back to the founding of the Institute in 1834. Covering all aspects of RIBA’s work, such as exams, exhibitions and Nomination Papers, this is an indispensable resource for the study of the architectural profession and architectural education worldwide.
