Keyworth Centre, London South Bank University
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South corner
Martine Hamilton Knight/BDP (website) Download Original
High-profile university teaching building with free-standing timber ‘pods’ within a large atrium
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.
Data
- Begun: Dec 2001
- Completed: 2003
- Floor area: 9,475m2
- Sector: Education
- Total cost: £17.2M
- Procurement: Traditional 2-stage; JCT 98 with Contractors Design Portion
- Address: Keyworth Street, London, SE1 6NG, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: BDP
- Client: London South Bank University
- Services engineer: BDP
- Structural engineer: BDP
- Civil engineer: BDP
- Quantity surveyor: Cyril Sweett
- Planning Supervisor : Cyril Sweett
- Contract administrator: Institutional Building Consultants
- Main contractor: Wates Construction
Suppliers
- Structural timber: Cowley Timberwork
- Helical stairs, balustrading, metalwork: Dane Engineering
- Joinery: Parkrose Builders
- Curtain wall glazing: Contano Aluminium
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