Masterplan is biggest campus revamp ‘for decades’

Roehampton University masterplan, showing buildings by MJP and Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Roehampton University masterplan, showing buildings by MJP on the left and Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios on the right

MJP has revealed for the first time images of its £80 million project for Roehampton University, which has just started on site.

It is the biggest regeneration of the university’s campus for decades, though it fits within a higher-level Henley Halebrown Rorrison masterplan.

The idea is to refocus the campus’s centre of gravity on to Roehampton Lane and to improve the quality of facilities for the growing university, which is beside the Alton Estate in south-west London.

MJP has designed the masterplan which will guide the institution’s development until 2025. It has also designed two buildings of four and five storeys – a student accommodation block and conference suite. They will provide 12,500 sq m of facilities for nearly 400 students at the university’s Digby Stuart College.

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios has also designed a new 7,200sq m library within the scheme. It will accommodate 300,000 books and a variety of spaces from silent study reading rooms to spaces for groups.

The buildings use brick and precast concrete and are planned around quadrangles to create a collegiate atmosphere.

Gross.Max is behind the landscaping and BDP is providing the engineering.

Work is due to be completed in stages from July 2016.

Liz Pride, MJP director emeritus, said: “The aim of the design is to provide high-quality accommodation that will attract students and visitors and enhance their experience of the university, giving them a sense that they are a part of the university community”

Dr Ghazwa Alwani-Starr, director of estates and campus services, said: “Our students’ surroundings are key to their university experience so we’re planning the biggest regeneration of the heart of our campus for decades.

“We will have attractive, modern, on campus accommodation and a brand new library befitting our status as a growing university with internationally-recognised research.

“This is a significant investment which will allow Roehampton to continue to improve and provide a great living, teaching and studying facilities as our reputation continues to grow.”