The Westminster City Council planning committee has resolved to grant planning permission for the LSE Firoz Lalji Global Hub. This important new building will be an exemplar of both educational and sustainable design. It will provide spaces for research and education and, with its public agora, bring people together to facilitate interaction and engagement while representing a new architectural approach to re-use that moves beyond pure heritage and conservation concerns.
The design team sought to develop the building’s ongoing history by avoiding unnecessary demolition and adapting the existing structure to support and enhance its potential for long-term educational use. It demonstrates the importance of understanding heritage, context and continuity but also the conservation of fabric for its material and cultural capital beyond its final appearance alone. This approach places an emphasis on designing in dialogue with the building fabric to form a proposal that grows from the existing with every design decision guided by critical sustainable imperatives.
“This is a groundbreaking transformation project with the highest sustainability ambitions, that will achieve both embodied and operational Net Zero carbon standards and Passivhaus certification. The project pioneers an approach that we believe will soon become standard practice in how we transform our existing building stock for the future.” Alasdair Graham, Director at David Chipperfield Architects