Institute of Education and School of Oriental & African Studies
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The new buildings for London University seen from the precinct near the Russell Square entrance. The terraced wing which ‘buttresses’ the service tower is the only one of five so far built
Architectural Review Download Original
The IOE consists of teaching accommodation clustered in the spine of the building, with large lecture theatres overlooking Woburn Square
Vertical circulation is by five cores containing lifts, stairs, lavatories and stores. The building is planned on a window module which is related to the structural grid to allow maximum flexibility in laying out teaching accommodation. An external concourse is the main form of horizontal circulation
SOAS is a hollow form enveloped by a cellular structure of small rooms looking outwards. The hollow form, the library, is a top-lit inward looking space surrounded by galleries. The main spine building parallel to Bedford Way is served by five vertical service and circulation cores. A total of 220 rooms are allocated to teaching staff, planned around the perimeter of the upper levels of the library.
A structure of in situ precast concrete and precast mullions with a cladding of prefabricated bronze-anodized aluminium panels and window sections. Both buildings lack decorative ornament and subtlety with Lasdun explaining that 'it is the form that is innately beautiful'.
Data
- Completed: 1977
- Sector: Education
- Address: Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Denys Lasdun & Partners
- Project architect: Denys Lasdun
- Client: University of London
- Quantity surveyor: Reynolds & Young
- Structural engineer: Ove Arup & Partners
- Electrical and Mechanical: Haden Young
- Acoustics: James Moir & Associates
- Landscape consultant: G. P. Youngman