Her Majesty The Queen opened the dramatic new Osborne-built Academic Building at the London School of Economics and Political Science yesterday (5 November 2008).
The building, which will allow the LSE to grow its student numbers to 9,000, totals 12,600m2 across eleven floors, two of which are below ground. It comprises office space arranged in a U-shape, large teaching areas, four lecture theatres (with one seating up to 400), function spaces, a street café and a roof pavilion with conferencing facilities and outside terrace. A welcoming foyer links the entrances on either side of the building and a soaring triple-height atrium area with timber flooring forms the nucleus of the building.
The building, designed by Grimshaw Architects, will house the school’s Departments of Management and Law, and its new Grantham Research Institute on climate change.
The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, toured the building and dropped in on a debate about climate change taking place there.
The £71 million building has been designed to minimise its environmental impact. A borehole provides ground water cooling while solar heating helps provide warm water. The building also includes a natural ventilation system helping it achieve an ‘Excellent’ BREEAM rating.