AL_A shortlisted for LSE Paul Marshall Building competition

AL_A have been shortlisted in the competition for the next major building project for the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The project will see the redevelopment of 44 Lincoln’s Inn Fields and will be known as the Paul Marshall Building upon completion.

The new building will house a number of academic and research departments including the Marshall Institute for Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship. Paul Marshall is a major benefactor of the School and the Marshall Institute will make its permanent home in the new building at 44 Lincoln’s Inn Fields which will take his name.

LSE is the world’s leading centre for social sciences. Founded in 1895, LSE is one of the most prestigious colleges within the University of London and has an outstanding reputation for academic excellence both nationally and internationally. LSE alumni and former staff include 16 Nobel Prize winners, 34 past or present Heads of State, 31 current UK MPs and 42 current peers of the House of Lords. LSE is consistently ranked in the top four UK universities in a variety of league tables.

LSE has been firmly established in the centre of London since 1895, sited on a tight urban campus adjacent to the Aldwych and Kingsway and within walking distance of Parliament, the City of London and the Law Courts. Intent on remaining in its current location, the School has plans both to expand its intake and to improve the quality of its estate to meet the high expectations of staff and students. The competition for the Paul Marshall Building is part of LSE’s objective to transform the quality of its buildings.

The design and civic qualities of the new building will enhance both local and international perceptions of LSE, and transform the identity of the south side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, one of London’s oldest and most emblematic landscaped squares, while respecting and complementing the historic context of many of the neighbouring buildings and public realm. The site occupies the southwestern corner of Lincoln’s Inn Fields opposite Sir John Soane’s Museum.

At the heart of the scheme will be a new building with opportunities for complementary formal and informal uses in the spaces around it and providing linkages with other LSE buildings.

Stage two of the competition will begin in 2016.