The scheme to replace the university’s Bankside House hall, located just south of Tate Modern, contains 1,944 student beds in three towers rising to 24, 26 and 28 storeys. The three towers will be connected at ground level by two pavilions.
Accommodation will be grouped in three communities of around 650 students, housed in a trio of ‘houses’ linked at the lower floors and through garden terraces. While at ground level the scheme will deliver landscaped courtyards and improved public realm.
The practices say the scheme’s appearance is designed to articulate the skyline, with slender vertical bars on the façade and and refined crowns to the three towers. Meanwhile, the lower-storey pavilions are designed to bring light into the shared communal spaces, providing street-level activity.
All rooms proposed at the Bankside redevelopment will be at sub-market rents and 15 per cent of the spaces will meet the London Plan definition of Affordable Student Accommodation (capped at 55 per cent of the maximum maintenance loan).
In a major competition for the job held last year Carmody Groarke and Sheppard Robson were selected ahead of Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, Allies and Morrison, COBE of Denmark with tp bennett, RSHP with Tigg Coll and SOM.
The LSE ran the competition with preferred partners to deliver the estimated £400 million project – development partner team Bouygues UK and Equitix, with Bouygues UK as contractor.
Once complete, the project will treble the amount of student accommodation currently on the site – a 1950s block originally built as offices for the nearby former Bankside Power Station and converted by the LSE into a 600-bed hall of residence in 1997.
Julian Robinson, director of estates at LSE, said: ‘Bankside House is more than student housing – it’s a commitment to widening access. By delivering nearly 2,000 beds at sub-market rents, we’re easing pressure on London’s housing market while ensuring that talented students, whatever their background, can live and thrive in the heart of the city.
‘This project reflects LSE’s values: world-class education supported by a world-class living environment and an ambitious civic offer to the local community. The new Bankside will be an extension of our world-class estate and exceptional student experience.’
The redeveloped halls is aiming to achieve WELL Standard and BREEAM Outstanding certification.
The site is intended to become the LSE’s ‘premier hall of residence’ and follows David Chipperfield Architects with Feix&Merlin Architects win of LSE’s competition for 35 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, the final ‘set-piece’ academic building on its main Holborn campus.
The LSE is currently deciding on the winner of a competition to pick a design team to overhaul another building on the edge of its Holborn campus. The shortlisted teams include UK-based practices Allies and Morrison, Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt, Feix&Merlin, Miltiadou Cook Mitzman and Alison Brooks Architects.
Located on the corner of Aldwych and Kingsway, the 1910s building once hosted the Air Ministry before becoming home to television stations, when it was known as Television House, and later Exxon mobile.
A decision on the planning application is expected early next year. Subject to approval, works on site will start in 2027, with the new Bankside House scheduled to open before September 2032.