PHASE 1
Phase 1, the renovation of the Art School row of six Grade 2 listed Georgian terrace buildings on Kennington Park Road, was completed in 2014 after five consecutive summers of work.
Through Phase 1 we were able to refurbish and enlarge 35 studios; carry out a full upgrade of the Conservation Department; create the expanded Library, new seminar and meeting rooms, and install new lighting and centralised heating throughout. The works also improved circulation between buildings (which in 2010 where all separate houses) from basement to second floor, and allowed for the relocation of academic and administrative offices, IT room and wood workshop.
Phase 1 was made possible thanks to the generosity of a large number of benefactors, some funding successive years of work, with a total of £2.2 million raised. Click here read more about it. We are also grateful to our team led by Alan Higgs Architects, with Mode PD as contractors and Mitchell Price as cost consultant and project manager, for delivering the project on time and on budget each year.
NEW FOUNDATION SPACES IN THE OLD VAUXHALL TELEPHONE EXCHANGE
Another important development connected to Phase 1 took place in 2012 with the relocation of the Foundation Department to the Old Vauxhall Telephone Exchange, a disused 1930s building adjacent to the Art School. The opportunity to secure a lease of one floor from BT, for a period of 10 years, was supported by the Duchy of Cornwall as freeholder of the building. In summer 2012, this large space of 6,000 square feet was turned into flexible, multipurpose studios with workshop facilities and a lecture space, transforming the quality of facilities for the Foundation Department.