The 4,827m² scheme, known as the Middle Mill building, will provide studios, a lecture theatre, student gallery, specialist arts and media facilities, café and ‘enhanced technical facilities’ for those studying at the south-west London university’s Kingston School of Art.
The Dublin-based practice won the competition in early 2023 for the landmark project – then budgeted at £22 million but later tendered at £42 million – selected from a shortlist ahead of the likes of Haworth Tompkins, Carmody Groarke and Caruso St John.
The victory came less than two years after Grafton’s Town House scheme for the university won the 2021 Stirling Prize.
The latest scheme involves the demolition of 120 student bedrooms (Block A and Blocks G-L) on the Middle Mill site to the south-east of the university’s Knights Park Campus.
According to the university, the design will incorporate a range of green materials and an ‘innovative’ north-light, sawtooth roofline to maximise natural light and reduce energy consumption.
The scheme, which has been submitted to Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, will feature ‘sustainably sourced’ wood and natural clay tile cladding in a bid to reduce embodied carbon and ‘harmonise with the surrounding architecture, blending contemporary design with local character’.
Outside, significant improvements to the public realm designed with FFLO are planned to ‘enhance greening and wilding and create a vibrant creative quarter’, with the Stanley Picker Gallery at its heart.
Principal director of Grafton Architects Shelley McNamara said: ‘We imagined an architecture which would respect the needs of the existing riverside ecosystem as well as the spatial needs of the University.
‘This has generated a sense of “soft edges” – a gentle shoreline between the river-world and man-made ground. We know of no other university building so close to such a unique confluence of natural riches and possessing such an otherworldly atmosphere, which is so conducive to study, contemplation, discovery and social delight.’
The university’s vice-chancellor, Steven Spier, added: ‘At Kingston University, we firmly believe world-class architectural design drives educational innovation and excellence, as we have seen with Grafton’s Town House on the Penrhyn Road campus.
‘Exceptional buildings have a transformative impact on students, staff and the wider community alike, providing an environment in which creativity, collaboration and shared learning truly flourish.’
The final design followed two stages of pre-application consultation: the first in autumn 2024; then a six-week second stage consultation this spring.
Subject to approval, the university hopes the building will be ready for use during the 2029-30 academic year.
Project team
Architects, principal designer and lead consultant Grafton Architects
Structural and civil engineering AKT II
Building services and lighting consultant Atelier Ten
Landscape Architecture FFLO
Sustainability, environmental and BREEAM adviser Atelier Ten
Façade design engineer AKT II
Façade and roof access consultant AKT II & Hilson Moran
Flood risk and hydrology consultant AKT II & Waterco
AV/IT consultant PTS Group
Acoustic, air quality, ecology, access, security,transport, waste, arboricultural and daylight consultant Buro Happold
Signage and wayfinding Steer Group
BIM (design stage) consultant BIM Technologies
Commissioning manager Banyards
Visualisation and VIA consultant Hayes Davidson
Project management Arcadis
Cost consultants RLB
Planning consultants Bidwells
Communications Grayling
Principal designer under building regulations Collation
Fire safety engineering Osborn
Catering consultants Keith Winton
Archaeology consultants Hawk Heritage
