Keyworth Centre, London South Bank University

At nine storeys, the Keyworth Centre makes a dramatic gesture to the street with a glazed face fronting an atrium that runs the full height and most of the width of the building.

Internally, two sets of free-standing timber ‘pods’ with curved timber-clad walls are set symmetrically either side of the atrium. They are used for seminars and informal teaching; the storey-height spaces between them are enclosed with glass balustrades to form terraces which students can use as ‘break-out’ spaces, with views into the atrium and out through the glazed wall.

The facade is supported by timber props, and behind the glazing’s external metal cappings, the whole facade framing is a structural grillage of LVL (laminated veneer lumber).

The lobby is double-depth on ground and first floor, providing a space for students to gather. Above this double height setback, the south-west-facing atrium glazing is a source of daylight to teaching spaces on upper floors.

The typical upper floor plan has teaching rooms double-banked along a corridor at the rear, with the timber towers continue the teaching floorspace, connected at the lift lobbies.