LSE is creating a new landmark building and public square at the heart of our
campus on Houghton Street. Opening in 2019, the 13-storey building is the
largest in our 120-year history
Architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners have created a world-class home
for the political sciences that will inspire LSE people and their ideas to
carry on transforming the world through specialist social science research and
education. The building's lower floors provide flexible teaching and learning
spaces that facilitate both independent and group study enabling educators to
lead the way in creating and delivering innovative teaching. Also here is the
first-ever LSE-style lecture theatre. The room's
configuration, which was informed by students and faculty, allows the taught and
collaborative sections of a lecture to take place seamlessly, without any need
to rearrange furniture. Across the public square, the LSE Alumni Centre, a dedicated
space for our global alumni community. We want our alumni to come back and the
Centre provides a welcoming front door. Offering complimentary business
facilities, Wi-Fi and refreshments, this is their base on campus, a place to relax,
catch up and use as a venue for alumni events.
Studying in the heart of London amid the bustle of the city Westminster and the
law courts is an exciting opportunity for our international community of
students, but it also makes it essential that they have a base on campus, a place
where they can come when they arrive in the morning, where they can remain
between lectures and classes, and where their needs throughout the course of the
day can be met. The lower four floors of the building provide this. They are
packed with adaptable state-of-the-art teaching rooms and lecture theatres, open
plan study areas and breakout spaces.
These floors are connected by a bright and open atrium staircase leading up
through the building to the first of a number of outdoor roof terraces,
providing peaceful airy spaces for taking time out with friends or quiet
contemplation.
Lecture theatres and seminar rooms of various sizes are located across these
floors, designed with flexible arrangements of furniture that promote
debate and interaction. They will ensure that our students are provided with the
best experience of being taught by our world-leading academics. Open plan study
and breakout zones have been created on the ground, first and second floors,
offering spaces for studying independently or collectively, meeting
friends, eating and drinking, recharging devices, or simply taking time out to
watch the world go by. Group working areas can be used independently by
students, for timetabled use with the adjacent lecture theatres, or for
additional tutoring and support outside of the classroom. Our new building
provides, for the first time in our history, a composite home for the
political sciences. The Departments of Government and International Relations,
the European Institute and the International Inequalities Institute
will be housed together through the upper ten floors, along with a new
School of Public Policy. These floors are connected by the academic stair, which
runs in a continuous diagonal across the facade and back again, creating a visual
and physical connection between departments and institutes. Interspersed
with spaces for both formal and impromptu meetings, their proximity
allows opportunities for collaboration between academics, researchers and
students working together on issues such as migration, social mobility and a new
era of global politics.
The redevelopment also opens up the historic heart of the School,
Houghton Street.
The new public square at the street's northern end provides the permeability
and connectivity that our campus currently lacks, and a clear central
landmark where people can gather daily and for special events. The building and
its surroundings will help us to create a more effective and integrated campus
with a better flow for students, staff and visitors, a stronger identity and a
more engaging appearance. We are creating a world-class building that provides our
students and staff with an environment where they can perform at their best, a
new home on campus that they enjoy and value and that matches their ambitions
and success.