Trinity College Library

Wren also showed his hand at the control of spaces out of doors, as here at the library of Trinity College, where the Cortile of earlier Italian palaces has been translated into the Cambridge Court. The first proposal was for a circular detached building under a dome, but it was later decided to complete the second, Nevile's Court of Trinity, and raise the library off the ground at the far side. The floor runs through the spandrels of the lower arcade, so that the interior of the library is lit by the clerestory windows and the scale of the court is preserved without sacrificing the height of the interior.