Herzog & de Meuron’s Royal College of Art Flagship Building Receives Planning Approval

Herzog & de Meuron’s design for the new flagship building of the Royal College of Art’s Battersea campus has been granted planning approval by Wandsworth Council. Unveiled last fall, the £108 million building will mark an “important step” in the evolution of the RCA into a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics)-focused postgraduate university.

The new building will house facilities for a range of art, design and innovation programs, including laboratories for computers, robotics wearing technologies, material science and advanced manufacturing. Additionally, space will be allocated to host start-up businesses as part of the InnovationRCA incubator program.

Central to the building design will be a double-height construction and exhibition space where large-scale works can be assembled and displayed. Student amenities will include a publicly accessible cafe and an art materials store. The building has been designed throughout for intuitive circulation and connections to the surrounding area and public space.

“The new Battersea campus expansion will be a new centre for the UK and the Royal College of Art’s culture of design innovation and entrepreneurialism at the intersection of science and the arts,” commented Ascan Mergenthaler, Senior Partner, Herzog & de Meuron. “Workshops are the nucleus of the College and of the new campus extension. Our design is rooted in the surrounding townscape – it is simple, robust, and flexible, and delivers a formula for the transforming dynamic of the RCA.”

Royal College of Art Vice-Chancellor Dr. Paul Thompson added, “The creation of the new Battersea campus is a landmark moment in the history of the RCA, as we embrace new design and creative disciplines, and offer our students unparalleled studio, workshop and high-tech facilities. It has been a huge privilege working with Herzog & de Meuron on this extraordinary design process; we are delighted by the support we have received from both local and central government in helping us realise an entirely new type of art and design university, which will contribute to the developing cultural quarter in Battersea.”

Half of the £108 million financing was committed by the Government in 2016, with the remainder to be secured through private donations and RCA investment. A fundraising campaign known as GenerationRCA is scheduled to launch later this year.

Site work is scheduled to begin in Spring 2018, with completion slated for April 2020.

News via RCA

Herzog & de Meuron Unveil Designs for a Flagship Building in the Royal College of Art’s New London Campus

London’s Royal College of Art (RCA) have submitted proposals by Herzog & de Meuron to Wandsworth Council for a new £108 million ($141 million) building in Battersea. The “flagship” project will form part of the RCA’s ongoing transformation into a ‘STEAM’ (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) postgraduate university, facilitating the provision of ten new programmes focusing on computer and materials science, the impact of the digital economy, advanced manufacturing, and intelligent mobility.