Because of the huge scale of the RIBA Collections, some of our material is stored offsite at our outstore at the Piper Building in south-west London. Here you’ll find many of our drawings, manuscripts, and models - including most of our institutional archive - which tells the story of RIBA and the wider architecture profession.

You are welcome to consult material at our outstore by appointment. Please email drawingsandarchives@riba.org to book. If you aren’t sure which of our sites the material you wish to consult is held at, our team will be happy to advise.

Address

The Piper Building
Peterborough Rd
London
SW6 3EF

The nearest stations are Parsons Green, Wandsworth Town, and Imperial Wharf.

Opening hours

Open by appointment.

Please email drawingsandarchives@riba.org to check availability and book your visit. Most appointments take place between 10.30am and 4.30pm.

Admission

This service is free and everyone is welcome to use our collections. We will ask you to complete a reader registration form on arrival.

Food and drinks are not permitted in the study room, and we will ask you to leave bags in the free lockers provided.

Access to materials

Please request the materials you wish to consult in advance of your visit so that we can retrieve them for you. Occasionally parts of our collection may be unavailable due to conservation, cataloguing, or storage needs. We will let you know if this is the case.

Accessibility

The outstore has step-free access and guide dogs are welcome. Please let us know if you have any additional access needs.

Photography and reprographics

Photography is permitted for most of the items in the collection for the purpose of non-commercial research or private study. Please read our photography policy before visiting.

We also offer a digitisation-on-demand service for drawings, manuscripts, photographs, and material too fragile to be copied. Please contact us for further information about our reprographics services.

Wi-Fi

Free Wi-Fi is available to readers.