King’s College London, Strand Campus, London WC2

JRA has transformed the former Aldwych Quarter into a world class university campus at the heart of the Strand for King’s College London (KCL).

JRA worked closely with KCL to create state of the art formal and informal spaces where collaboration, learning and research are supported by inspiring surroundings. Bush House and its adjoining buildings now form a dynamic campus spanning 30,000m2 in the heart of London by uniting two prime central London locations, the Aldwych and the historic Strand Campus, which now provide state of the art education and learning facilities for students.

The interiors take much of their inspiration from the detailing of the historic buildings to provide a coherent and bespoke aesthetic, combining the best of the building’s heritage with the requirements of a modern university.

The campus now provides a 400 seat auditorium, lecture theatres, seminar rooms, trading labs, student services, a health and wellness centre and a new central entrance pavilion in the East Courtyard. The change in use and extensive facilities were made possible through careful space planning supported by a backbone phase in the construction to adjust essential services and reinforce floors. This has allowed the buildings to accommodate a doubled occupational density to one in five meters. Flexible zones were also created to futureproof the buildings. JRA incorporated interface spaces into the designs, these multifunctional areas feature movable partitions and modular furniture that can be adjusted for additional teaching requirements and events. The campus is expected to facilitate 7000 students, providing a 50% increase to the Strand campus’ teaching capacity.

The design of the academic, as well as teaching and interface areas, has been with both the KCL brand and the original neo classical architecture in mind. JRA has preserved the best of the original features, including one of a kind Malvina Hoffman statues, wrought iron metalwork, coffered ceilings and travertine lined walls. These elements provided inspiration for modern interventions like the auditorium, carpeting and partitions. No detail has been overlooked as an opportunity to imbue with the 1920s heritage of the architecture. The acoustic felt lining the walls within the new Harvard style lecture theatre, for example, has been laser cut in a pattern designed to reflect the ceiling details in the original entrance hall. In the instance of the 400 seat auditorium, JRA has restored the original architect’s intent, reinstating the double height theatre space to original drawings and removing the BBC interventions. A similar attention to detail has carried through to the high quality materials JRA has used throughout the scheme, including leather seating and solid timber partitions. The overall effect of these choices is a coherent yet distinctive set of spaces catering to the needs of staff and students, without detracting from the distinctive heritage of the building.

The Pavilion is located in the centre of the East Courtyard and acts as the heart of the campus by offering a flagship entrance to the KCL main reception and Students’ Union. Its location and design was informed by in depth flow studies. Formed from glass and anodised aluminium, The Pavilion is a bespoke new build addition with materiality that works in harmony with the surrounding Portland Stone buildings and is integrated using the landscaped public realm. The two boxes form a destination that is visible and centrally located within KCL’s Strand campus.

Once inside, students are greeted by a sleek, contemporary lobby inset with feature lighting and artwork from Blackbody, which guides occupants towards an undercroft, offering level access connections to the four buildings around the East Courtyard and the Student’s Union.

JRA built on the initial refurbishment’s BREEAM Excellent rating by exclusively using FSC certified timber, sustainably sourced furniture, zero VOC paint and recycled yarn carpeting. Technology has also been utilised to ensure that the building runs sustainably, for example, a closed control system for heating, lighting, insulation and cooling means that the building can be controlled and monitored room by room. Alongside this, the lifts use energy saving modes, new services have meters to maintain low energy consumption and lighting runs on presence detectors.