Scheme designed in collaboration with Clementine Blakemore Architects
Westminster council has approved Witherford Watson Mann Architects’ £90m renewal of the Royal College of Art’s grade II-listed campus in Kensington.
The Stirling Prize winner and Clementine Blakemore Architects have designed proposals to modernise the Darwin building in what the university says will be a “careful balance of conservation and transformation”.
The Darwin Building was completed in 1963 to designs by three RCA staff members, HT Cadbury-Brown, Hugh Casson and Robert Goodden, and was listed in 2001.
A phased programme of works will add new teaching and learning spaces, modernise existing studios and workshops and open up the campus with step-free access and new public areas.
A historic entrance facing the Royal Albert Hall will be reinstated to provide a “striking new gateway”, with the scheme also set to contain a new cafe, gallery and event spaces.
The RCA has said it will vacate its Allies & Morrison-designed White City campus from March 2027 after just ten years at the site, which opened in 2017.
The university said the project is aiming to generate long-term savings through increased energy efficiency and consolidated campuses. Teaching and research will continue throughout construction with work expected to complete in 2032.
Founded in 1837, the RCA has been ranked the world’s number one university for art and design for 11 consecutive years, according to QS World Rankings.
Witherford Watson Mann’s restoration of the fire-damaged Astley Castle in Warwickshire was awarded the Stirling Prize in 2013.
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