Kingston School of Art London

PROJECT

REFURBISHMENT AND EXTENSION

CLIENT

KINGSTON UNIVERSITY

COMPLETION DATE

2019

Kingston School of Art was established at Knights Park in 1939 and is one of the UK’s leading art and design schools. The factory-like building suffered from ad hoc modifications, poor layout and underutilised spaces. However, its raw brick, steel and concrete shell was in good condition and has been retained, cleaned and repaired. New factory glazing provides good quality light to north-facing studios. Redundant plant spaces at the top of the building have been re-purposed as studios, while green roofs and terraces make the most of the large flat roofs. The project achieved BREEAM Outstanding and delivers a 52% reduction in CO2 emissions. KSA’s workshops and studios are open for creative exploration and allow opportunities for students and staff to work together and to share ideas whether they are studying or researching. The project builds on this open approach through providing adaptable studio and workshop spaces, active breakout spaces and stronger vertical and horizontal connections. At the heart of the building are new state of the art workshop facilities for ceramics, photography, film production, woodwork, metalwork, plaster, printmaking, letterpress and digital hack. These workshops are open to students of all disciplines to encourage collaboration and disruptive experimentation. We have worked closely with the University on a phased delivery of the project that has kept parts of the building operational throughout construction and have been novated to the design and build contractor for the delivery stages.

SELECTED AWARDS

RIBA LONDON AWARD

BREEAM AWARDS: BEST BUILT PUBLIC

SECTOR PROJECT

AJ RETROFIT