A building designed to help transform our world.
Having been at the heart of Elephant & Castle for over 60 years, we are very excited to be in the process of constructing a cutting-edge new building, just across the road from our current site in Elephant & Castle – due to open in September 2027.
The new site for London College of Communication, UAL, as part of a broader Elephant & Castle town centre development scheme, will build capacity around the creative industries across design, media and screen, and create a new creative hub for the area.
This cutting-edge new building will be home to over 5,000 students and over 500 staff – discovering new possibilities in creative communications education.
As technologies and global challenges continue to change and become increasingly complex, being situated in a building that we can adapt and evolve will allow us to stay at the forefront of creative thinking, making and problem solving.
Our new building is carefully designed to accommodate the needs of our specialist subjects and maximise the use of our Technical Resources, including a new cinema space. From Virtual Reality and visual effects to the latest advancements in social media and sustainable design, our courses push the boundaries within design, media and screen. Across the 11 floors above ground and deep basement level with mezzanine, our new building has been carefully designed with these specific requirements in mind.
Students and graduates will have enhanced showcasing and retail opportunities through extensive gallery and display spaces, while a roof terrace will offer stunning views over London for high profile events.
Having been based in Elephant and Castle since 1962, and in south London for over 100 years through our ancestor organisation Saint Bride's Foundation Institute, we have a proven track record of bringing educational, cultural, and economic benefits to our local communities.
With the new building’s first two floors due to be open to the public, it will be easier than ever for audiences to explore everything we have to offer – from student showcasing and public events to popping in for a coffee amongst the creative buzz of a thriving student community. Find out more about our work in Elephant & Castle.
Our dynamic and diverse community of staff, students and graduates discover new possibilities in creative communications. Students are supported to explore the power of storytelling, develop a career they love, and make a difference across society. Within our new building, we will be empowered to achieve this better than ever.
In addition to future-proofed teaching spaces and technical facilities that combine the heritage with the modern, the building’s common areas and neighbourhoods will enable greater collaboration and community-building for students within and between courses and disciplines.
While our current building dates back to the 1960s, and brings challenges in sustainable practices, the new building is targeting ‘Excellent’ for the Shell and Core, and ‘Outstanding’ for the fit-out, by the industry-standard ‘BREEAM’ sustainability assessment for buildings and infrastructure through material choices and energy management.
We are home to UAL’s Archives and Special Collections Centre, with almost 50 archives and collections spanning the history of the creative arts – including the archives of Stanley Kubrick, Tom Eckersley and Her Noise. In our new building, these archives will be more open and accessible than ever.
Our new building will be even better served by London transport, with the Elephant & Castle development offering major improvements in transport infrastructure – including a new entrance to the Northern Line Underground station.
While we look towards and plan for our cutting-edge new building for the College, we continue to invest in our current building in order to provide an environment that supports positive student and staff experience.
We have continued to enhance our existing facilities with the latest technological advancements, as well as introduce new facilities to our current building, to ensure our current students are ready to take on the creative industries as soon as they graduate.
Over the last few years these have included the introduction of a Creative Technology Hub with a projection mapping screen, a new lift improving accessibility and reliability, as well as music studios kitted out to industry-standard.
We are proud of the range of Technical Resources at the College, that are equipped to industry standards and run by highly skilled technicians.
The project launches with the appointment of architects to start initial work on the design of the Shell and Core (external structure) of the building. The building will form part of the wider Elephant and Castle Town Centre redevelopment.
Southwark Council grants planning permission for the Elephant and Castle Town Centre redevelopment, which includes UAL’s new building for London College of Communication.
Construction engineering specialists take possession of the redevelopment site and commence site works in 2020; construction on the new London College of Communication building then begins in October 2022.
The construction of our new building reaches ‘topping-out’ – meaning the building’s shell and core construction has reached its full height.
The building will be weathertight, with the installation of the roof, by the end of 2024.
Shell and core – building the main structure of the building, including external works, lift shafts, staircases etc – is due to be completed early 2026.
Fit out – building and preparing the interior spaces of our new building – is anticipated to be completed in autumn 2026.
The testing of all building services; installation of furniture, fixtures and equipment (initially new, and then existing); final preparations; and the relocation from our current building are anticipated to take place from early 2027 to August 2027.
LCC’s new building is expected to open in September 2027. All students and staff will be studying and working in the new building from this date, and our current site will close.
Timelines for the wider Elephant and Castle regeneration plans, including phase two of the development once we have relocated from our current site, can be found on the Elephant and Castle town centre website.
For enquiries contact
communications@lcc.arts.ac.uk