Alison Brooks Architects and Feix&Merlin Win the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) 61 Aldwych Architectural Competition
We’re delighted to announce that Alison Brooks Architects and Feix&Merlin have won the international competition to transform 61 Aldwych Crescent into a pioneering academic hub for the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Our design will breathe new life into the historic 17,600m² building on the corner of Aldwych and Kingsway, within the Strand Conservation Area in central London. Previously home to the Air Ministry, Television House and later ExxonMobil headquarters, the new scheme will provide LSE with a new “front door,” enhancing its central London campus with generous teaching, research and social learning spaces.
The competition process included a public exhibition and consultation on five shortlisted proposals, where the Alison Brooks Architects and Feix&Merlin scheme also unanimously won the public vote.
We were honoured to be shortlisted alongside four other talented teams:
Ennead with 10 Design
Studios Architecture with Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt and Miltiadou Cook Mitzman
Beyond Space with Allies and Morrison
3XN with Adamson
Alison Brooks responded: “We’re thrilled to be working with LSE and Feix&Merlin to create an inspiring new teaching and research hub at 61 Aldwych. Our vision will transform the existing inward-looking monolith into an open, outward-facing campus threshold filled with organically connected convening spaces, light and greenery. We’re collaborating with a fantastic project team to ensure this project supports LSE’s sustainability goals and world-leading academic mission.”
Tarek Merlin, co-founder and director of Feix&Merlin Architects, said: “We’re so proud to announce that Alison Brooks Architects and Feix&Merlin have been selected as the winning team for the reinvention of 61 Aldwych (61A) for LSE. This is a landmark moment for us – our biggest project to date. Our vision for this major heritage retrofit and next-generation learning environment was shaped through the lens of biophilic design – could this be LSE’s greenest building yet?”
According to Julian Robinson, LSE’s Director of Estates, the team’s “genuinely collaborative” dynamic and holistic approach to biophilic design principles stood out: “The commitment to re-use and a relatively light but impactful intervention into the fabric, was appreciated – not just in terms of economy but also sustainability. The wholehearted embrace of integrated biophilic design, using specialist consultants, was distinctive and convincing and will create a new typology for social learning space at LSE.”
Robinson also praised the scheme’s ‘well-considered link through to LSE’s Old Building and the suggestion of additional links on the upper floors.’
The project is scheduled to start on site in autumn 2027, with completion expected in 2028.
Competition Team:
Architects: Alison Brooks Architects and Feix&Merlin
MEP, Sustainability, Fire, Acoustics, AV, Vertical Transport, Lighting: Arup
Structural Engineer: AKT II
Design Manager: Plan A
PD Advisor: Gleeds
Biophilic & Wellbeing Consultant: Oliver Heath Design
Published Articles:
Architects’ Journal – ‘Feix & Merlin with Alison Brooks Triumph in Latest LSE Contest’
