King’s College London has launched an Invited Design Competition through the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) to redevelop the Quadrangle and its associated buildings at the College’s historic Strand Campus in London WC2.
The Strand Campus overlooks the Thames and stands mid-way between the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s Cathedral.
This vibrant campus provides teaching and social space for some 9,000 students and 1,500 staff. It has a particular focus on arts and sciences and is home to the College’s Schools of Arts & Humanities, Social Science & Public Policy, Natural & Mathematical Sciences and the Dickson Poon School of Law, as well as the China, India and Brazil global institutes.
Over the next five years the College plans to add a further 2,600 students at this campus. The £20 million project to design and redevelop the Quad, including the buildings below it and the immediate surroundings will provide an additional 3,700 square metres of teaching and student social space.
The Quad lies between the Grade I listed King’s Building designed by Sir Robert Smirke, also architect of the British Museum, and the Somerset House East Wing designed by Sir William Chambers. The new Strand Quad will be highly distinctive and engaging, while competing sympathetically with the College’s neighbour to the West, Somerset House.
The architectural competition follows a six month campus-wide consultation with students and staff to find out what they would like to see in the design of the new ‘learning commons’.
It is anticipated that the space will form a bridge between the King’s Building and Somerset House East Wing by regenerating the deck and lower floors of the Quadrangle area, transforming an underused subterranean area into an innovative, light, flexible space for students suitable for both formal and informal study.
The competition was launched on 25 April 2012 and will close at 14.00 on 1 June 2012, when shortlisted entries will be put to a panel of judges before the winner is announced in the Autumn.
King’s and RIBA are calling for Expressions of Interest from architects or architectural practices across the world and the appointment of an architect will be based on their ability to bring innovative thinking to a significant historical site in order to revitalise the learning space.
It is anticipated that construction works will commence in 2013.
