The university has been given planning permission to redevelop the former home of Cancer Research UK

The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) has been given the go-ahead for its £140m redevelopment of the former London home of Cancer Research UK by Westminster City council.

The project will see the current building near the Royal Courts of Justice at 44 Lincoln’s Inn Fields demolished and replaced by a new 10-storey building to create 18,124 sq m of educational floor space.

The Marshall Building at 44 Lincoln's Inn Fields for LSE

The designs for the new building from a team led by Dublin-based Grafton Architects were selected via a RIBA competition last year.

The team includes AKT II as structural engineers, Gardiner & Theobald as the project and cost manager, Chapman BDSP as the MEP consultant and Turley as planning consultant.

Demolition is due to begin later this year with the building expected to be completed in early 2021.

The Marshall Building at 44 Lincoln's Inn Fields for LSE

The new building will be known as The Marshall Building in recognition of LSE donor Sir Paul Marshall. It will contain The Marshall Institute for Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship, founded by Sir Thomas Hughes-Hallett and Sir Paul Marshall.

It will also house the academic departments of accounting, finance and management, teaching facilities, plus sports and arts rehearsal facilities, including a Sports England standard multi-purpose sports hall for use by staff and students.

LSE director of estates Julian Robinson said: “This is a major milestone in the delivery of our ambitious estates strategy, which seeks to create a world class estate and a university quarter fully integrated with the public realm.

“Our design brief called for a seminal university building and Westminster City Council have recognised that a combination of an outstanding architect and a committed client will deliver this vision.”