Client: Imperial College London
Synonymous with academic excellence in British Higher Education, ICL competes at the global level for the top students especially in the fields of science and medicine.
The future of the College depends on attracting the brightest and the best. Accommodation for students in central London is hard to find and expensive and needs to be of good quality.
We were asked to advise on the redevelopment of existing halls of residence to accommodate some 1,000 students – the challenge was that the principal building was listed grade II– the development constituted two sides of an historic London Square – and was sited in the Knightsbridge Special Conservation Area. Built in the 1960s, the building was failing to meet the needs of students today and was demonstrating endemic structural and environmental failure.
We led the consultant team in formulating the analysis, testing the case and then presenting the arguments to the City of Westminster, the Mayor of London and the Commissioners of English Heritage before final consideration of the first ever demolition of a “modern” listed building by the First Secretary of State.
Listed building consent for the demolition of the building and planning permission for the reconstruction of the Square have been granted and ICL is building student accommodation fit for the twenty-first century.
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