Work on London establishment鈥檚 next building set to start in 2026
Irish practice Grafton Architects, the firm which won a Stirling Prize for its Town House building at Kingston University in 2021, has beaten two other recipients of architecture鈥檚 top gong to win a competition to design another building at the university.
Stirling winners Haworth Tompkins and Caruso St John Architects were also in the running for a RIBA competition for a 拢23.5m teaching facility located close to the university鈥檚 Knights Park campus.
The other practices on the six-strong shortlist to design the Middle Mill building were Carmody Groarke, Hall McKnight and Reiach and Hall.
Grafton鈥檚 scheme will include a 200-seat lecture theatre, an exhibition space, specialist teaching studios with 鈥渆nhanced acoustic performance鈥�, a faith and spirituality facility and office space for staff.
RIBA said the building will be highly sustainable and will need to epitomise the university鈥檚 鈥渁rt school character鈥�. The winning design will also need to reflect this in the site鈥檚 public realm, which has been allotted a 拢1.5m budget.
The scheme is part of the university鈥檚 newly launched Town House strategy, which sets out an ambition to 鈥減rogressive new model of education鈥�.
The strategy has been named after Grafton Architects鈥� building, which also won Europe鈥檚 Mies van der Rohe Award. The library, exhibition, dance and teaching space is located at Penrhyn Road campus, about 10 minutes walk from Knights Park campus through Kingston town centre.
Speaking about Grafton鈥檚 latest plans, the university鈥檚 vice-chancellor Professor Steven Spier said: 鈥淲e firmly believe world-class architectural design underpins creative problem solving and educational achievement, providing a stimulating setting in which collaboration and shared learning thrive.鈥�
Construction is scheduled to start on site in late 2026 with the building to open by September 2029.
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