Herzog & de Meuron beats international shortlist to another plum London job

Herzog & de Meuron has won the competition to design a new campus for the Royal College of Art in Battersea.

The scheme has a price tag of 拢108m and is part of the RCA鈥檚 plan to move into subjects beyond its core art and design subjects with the 179-year-old art college, headquartered in South Kensington, positioning itself at the threshold between science, art, design and technology.

At Battersea, it is expanding its research into computer and materials science, robotics, the impact of the digital economy and intelligent mobility.

Herzog & de Meuron鈥檚 building will complete the RCA鈥檚 campus just south of Battersea Bridge. It will sit next to three buildings by masterplanner Haworth Tompkins: the Sackler, Dyson and Woo 好色先生TVs.

Serie was the only UK architect to make the six-strong shortlist.

Others beaten to the prize were US firms Diller Scofidio & Renfro and Studio Gang, Swiss-based Christian Kerez, French practice Lacaton & Vassal and Belgian firm Robbrecht en Daem.

RCA rector Paul Thompson, who chaired the selection panel, said: 鈥淲e set out a competition to find the very best architect to crystallise our vision for a new heart to the Battersea campus; we were very impressed by Herzog & de Meuron鈥檚 mastery of our brief.鈥�

The Swiss practice behind the Tate Modern extension will see construction work start next summer on its 拢500 million scheme to design a new ground for Chelsea football club for a 2021 finish.

The invited design competition, run by Malcolm Reading Consultants, attracted 97 expressions of interest.

 

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