Green light for £55m Kingston uni building

Irish practice Grafton Architects’ first UK project has won planning permission on its second attempt.

The £55m flagship project for Kingston University in south-west London was unanimously approved by the local planning committee this week.

Grafton director Shelley McNamara, who addressed the meeting, said the practice was thrilled.

The original scheme, unexpectedly rejected in March, was likened to a “Second World War flak tower” by the committee chairman.

The revised Town House scheme, which councillors reportedly felt was “much better designed” was set back from the main Penrhyn Road by a further metre and its colonnade was thinner and lighter.

A university spokesman described it as a world-class piece of architecture, adding: “It was very much based on the original concept. I don’t think anyone feels anything has been lost. It’s a slight scaling-back.”

McNamara said they had engaged carefully with the objections but that part of the response had simply been to produce new drawings to communicate the wider context of the building, which steps up from three to six storeys.

The project would improve the public realm along Penrhyn Road which is currently home to a car park and temporary buildings, she added.

“People were worried because on one side it’s adjacent to two-storey houses and on the other to a university and the question was how it would mediate between the two,” she said.

“It looks like the building is very close to the road but when we made larger drawings it was clearer that the university is creating a very generous public space.”

She said it would be a “fantastic” building, with the library, dance studio and cafe open to the public.

“It’s a very nice and unpredictable mix of uses. I think it will be a very lively space,” she said.

It will contain 9,000sq m of learning space including a 300-seat auditorium, a resources centre over several floors and rehearsal and performance areas.

Only one resident spoke against the project at the meeting, complaining that the gateway building was still too big for the site opposite Surrey’s county hall.

Sean Woulfe, the university’s director of estates, said the new proposal, had largely won the backing of locals and heritage groups.

“The design reflects the university’s intention to engage with the public and open up learning opportunities for everyone,” he said.

“The colonnade draws people in, and the lively landscaped terraces showcase the university’s learning activities to everyone passing by, on this key gateway to the town centre.”

Committee chairman Richard Hudson said: “I am satisfied that the university took on board the concerns expressed when this application last came before the committee and therefore am happy to see the revised application passed unanimously.”

Grafton won the project – the university’s biggest to date – in 2013 against a heavyweight line-up of O’Donnell & Tuomey, Haworth Tompkins, Bennetts and Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.