The university awarded the pair the job of overhauling last month following a unanimous jury decision in favour of the practices’ biophilic proposals.
The team saw off anonymous entries by New York City-based Ennead with 10 Design; Californian firm Studios Architecture with Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt and Miltiadou Cook Mitzman; Beyond Space with Allies and Morrison; and Danish practice 3XN with Toronto-based Adamson Associates Architects.
The appointment followed a consultation this summer on the five shortlisted proposals to overhaul the 1910s building on the edge of the LSE’s Holborn campus, which will be used to accommodate academic departments and research centres.
The AJ understands that Feix&Merlin and Alison Brooks’ scheme also ‘overwhelmingly’ won a public vote.
The practices said their design included a ‘new front door’ to the LSE on Aldwych Crescent and a projecting bay window to open up the university to the street. The building will be reactivated at street level on Kingsway, and at roof level, where a roof terrace will be created for LSE students and staff.
Internally, the winning scheme aims to create a ‘world-class biophilic environment for learning and research’ through a ‘bold sculptural staircase’ moving up the building and through biophilic surroundings, which consultation documents said were inspired by a ravine.
LSE director of estates Julian Robertson told the AJ that the university ‘focused on both the team and the scheme when making our selection’.
He explained: ‘The dynamic between Feix&Merlin and Alison Brooks Architects was genuinely collaborative. The commitment to reuse and a relatively light but impactful intervention into the fabric was appreciated, not just in terms of economy but also sustainability.
‘The wholehearted embracing of an integrated biophilic design , using specialist consultants was distinctive and convincing and will create a new typology for social learning space at the LSE. We also liked the well-considered link through to the LSE’s Old Building and the suggestion of additional links on the upper floors.
‘LSE has been named University of the Year for a second year in a row, and we want to ensure the reimagination of 61 Aldwych lived up to this accolade.’
Tarek Merlin, co-founder and director of Feix&Merlin Architects, said: ‘We’re so proud to announce that Feix&Merlin with Alison Brooks Architects, have been selected as the winning team for the reinvention of 61 Aldwych (61A) competition for LSE – the London School of Economics and Political Science.
‘This is a landmark moment for us – our biggest project to date. A bold reimagining of a prominent corner site on Kingsway and Aldwych, 61A will become a new higher education hub and civic gateway – where the LSE meets the city.
‘A major heritage retrofit, and a next-generation learning environment our vision was shaped through the lens of biophilic design – could this be LSE’s greenest building yet?
‘We can’t wait to bring this one to life.’
The building at 61 Aldwych Crescent once hosted the Air Ministry before becoming home to television stations, when it was known as Television House, and then to Exxon Mobile. The LSE reportedly bought the 17,600m2 site for £170 million in May this year from a China-based investor.
The LSE is currently overseeing a David Chipperfield Architects and Feix&Merlin-designed retrofit and extension of another building on its Holborn campus. In 2022, it opened the Grafton-designed Marshall building, also on the campus.
Feix&Merlin secured two wins at last month’s AJ Retrofit & Reuse Awards for Practice of the Year and best Adaptive Reuse into Mixed-Use for its restoration of Walworth Town Hall, for General Projects.
The first stage of the 61 Aldwych Crescent competition launched in June. Nineteen practices took part, of which five were shortlisted.
Completion is estimated for 2028, subject to planning.
The shortlist
Ennead with 10 Design
Studios Architecture with Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt and Miltiadou Cook Mitzman
Beyond Space with Allies and Morrison
Feix & Merlin with Alison Brooks Architects
3XN with Adamson