The Saw Swee Hock Student Centre at the London School of Economics is a multifunctional building with a large music venue, pub, learning cafe, union offices, prayer centre, dance studio, careers library and gym. The project is located at the knuckle-point convergence of the network of narrow streets that characterise the LSE city centre campus. A public space at the threshold of the Student Centre is positioned on axis with St Clement’s Lane, to pull pedestrian street life into and up the building.
The design intention was to create an active Student Centre, the character of which should be contemporary, inviting, welcoming and even provoking to its users. Inside the building open stairways spiral around the central lift shaft that forms a skewering pivot-point at the centre of gravity of the plan. These wide stairs with slow steps make a flowing continuous ribbon of movement from street to roof garden, a vertical building working as a single organism.
- People’s Choice Award - The Best Building in London over Last 10 Years
- Civic Trust Award - Special Award for Brick
- The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award finalist
- Westminster Society Biennial Award for Architecture
- RIBA Award London Building of the Year
- AAI Award
- Irish Concrete Society - International Award
- Irish Building and Design Award - International Award
- RIAI Award - Best International Award
- RIBA Award
- RIBA Stirling Prize finalist
- Leaf Awards - Public Building of the Year
- Concrete Society Award - Best Building (Education)
- Brick Awards - Use of Brick and Clay Products
- Brick Awards - Best Education Building
- Brick Awards - Supreme Winner
- Expo 2020 Dubai - Ireland’s Pavilion: The Architecture of Creative Learning Exhibition
Dubai, UAE, 23 January to 31 March 2022 - The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award 2015 Exhibition - Wrocław
Wrocław, Poland - The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award 2015 Exhibition - Leuven
Leuven, Belgium - The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award 2015 Exhibition - Waterford
Waterford, 13-21 Oct 2015 - Irish Design 2015 Capsule Exhibition ‘Connections’
- Designs of the Year 2015
London, England, 25 - 31 March 2016 - American Academy of Arts and Letters 2015 Awards: O’Donnell + Tuomey
Dublin, 29 Oct – 9 Nov 2015 - The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award 2015 Exhibition - Dublin
Dublin - 246th Summer Exhibition
London, UK, 9 Jun - 17 Aug 2014 - Irish Design 2015 Design Island
Dublin - Ireland at Venice 2012
Dublin - The Vessel 2012
Venice, Italy - GA Exhibition ‘Emerging Future’
Tokyo, Japan - New London Architecture – London School of Economics Competition Designs
London, England
- Casabella Lecture, 01.12.2020
- Mackintosh School of Architecture Lecture, The Index of Influence: O'Donnell and Tuomey, 23.10.2020
- Rencontre avec O’Donnell + Tuomey, 06.11.2019
- O’Donnell and Tuomey’s Saw Swee Hock Student Centre
- Saw Swee Hock Student Centre - EU Mies van der Rohe Award Finalist, 2015
- Brick: John Tuomey on the LSE Student Union
The site is located at the knuckle-point convergence of the network of narrow streets that characterise the LSE city centre campus. The public space at the threshold of the Student Union on axis with St Clement’s Lane, creates a place of exchange; a spatial bowtie that intertwines circulation routes, splices visual connections between internal and external movement, and pulls pedestrian street life into and up the building. We have developed a site specific sculptural concept for the architectural design. The folded, chamfered, canted and faceted façade operates with respect to the Rights of Light Envelope and is tailored in response to specific lines of sight along approaching vistas and from street corner perspectives. The surface of the brick skin is cut out along fold lines to form large areas of transparent glazing framing views in and out from street to room. Like a Japanese puzzle, our design is carefully assembled to make one coherent volume from a complex set of interdependent component parts. Our analysis of the context has uniquely influenced the first principles of the design approach.
London is a city of bricks. The existing buildings on and adjacent to the site are built in bricks of varied and lively hue. Our design relates to the resilient characteristic of the city’s architecture with familiar materials made strange. The exterior walls are clad with bricks, used in a new way, with each brick offset from the next in an open work pattern, wrapping the walls in a permeable blanket that will create dappled daylight in particular spaces and, at night, when all the lights are on inside, the building will be seen from the streets like a glowing lattice lantern.
The faceted facade of the building is composed of both solid and perforated brick areas and glazed screens. The perforated planes are constructed from a single leaf of brickwork with spaces in the flemish bond pattern to allow light to both infiltrate the interior spaces and filtrate out at night to create a pattern effect. The openwork brickwork is constructed in front of glazed screens that seal the building and incorporate opening sections to naturally ventilate the building. The extent of perforation has been developed to maximise daylight into the building.
Our design refers to the robust adaptability-in-use of a lived-in warehouse. Open work steel trusses or ribbed concrete slabs cross the big spaces with solid wooden floors underfoot. Lightweight partitions made of clear and coloured glass and timber have sliding screens for flexibility in use. Circular steel columns prop office floors between the large span volumes and punctuate the open floor plan of the café. Stairs are made of terrazzo and plate steel. Concrete ceilings contribute thermal mass with acoustic clouds suspended to soften the sound. Every landing has a bench or built-in couch. There are no closed-in corridors. Every hallway has daylight and views in at least one direction. Every office workspace has views to the outside world. The basement floor area is lit from clerestory windows and roof lights to allow for daytime use. This building does not feel like a hotel, an office, or an academic institution. It is fresh and airy, heavy and light, open and clear, sculptural and social.
Publications:
- Architects’ Journal, 246, 07.11. 2019, O'Donnell champions retrofit and the joy of working with old buildings, Isabella Kaminski PDF↗︎€
- The Irish Times, 25.04. 2019, A lifetime building connections, Emma Cullinan PDF
- Architects’ Journal, 14.02. 2019, How is O’Donnell + Tuomey’s LSE building faring five years on?, Hattie Hartman PDF↗︎€
- London Guide, Architectour, Virginia Durán ↗︎
- Irish Architecture, The RIAI Annual Review, Vol. 6, Sandra O’Connell (Editor)
- 100 Contemporary Brick Buildings, Taschen PDF
- The Irish Times, 08.10. 2016, Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks 2014, Ellen Rowley PDF
- Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks, Royal Irish Academy, Fintan O'Toole
- AV Monographs, 2016
- Notations: O’Donnell + Tuomey Architects, 2016
- Brick 16, Wienerberger Brick Awards, Callwey PDF
- Architectural Record, 15.11. 2015, Innovation in Brick: Pushing the [Brick] Envelope (€), Katharine Logan ↗︎€
- Practical Poetics in Architecture, Wiley, Leon Van Schaik PDFPDF
- L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, No. 409 Nov 2015, Portrait: O’Donnell + Tuomey, A la ville comme á la scéne / Life and Work PDF
- Shortlisted & Nominees, European Union Prize For Contemporary Architecture – Mies Van der Rohe Award 2015, Fundacio Mies Van der Rohe Barcelona PDF
- Arketipo, Oct 2015, Progetti in Dettaglio, LSE Saw Swee Hock Student Centre, Marco Pesenti PDF
- d’a, Apr 2015, Réalisations: Saw Swee Hock Student Centre, Londres, Dominique Boudet PDF
- ArchitectureAU, 10.03. 2015, Interview: O’Donnell and Tuomey (part 2), Tania Davidge PDF
- werk, Mar 2015, Stein – Gymnastik, Studentenzentrum LSE-Campus in London PDF
- Saw Swee Hock, 2015
- Winners & Finalists, European Union Prize For Contemporary Architecture – Mies Van der Rohe Award 2015, Fundacio Mies Van der Rohe Barcelona
- Icon, Jan 2015, LSE, Building of the Year, Jay Merrick PDF↗︎
- mondo, Dec/Jan 2014/ 2015, The Economics of Lighting, Ligting Design for LSE Student Centre, Farhad Rahim PDF
- Designs of the Year, Design Museum, Gemma Curtin (Editor), Simon Coppock (Editor)
- Irish Architecture, The RIAI Annual Review, Vol. 5, RIAI, Sandra O’Connell (Editor)
- Irish Architecture 2014, The AAI Awards, Architectural Association of Ireland, Michael Hayes (Editor)
- Architects’ Journal, 23.12. 2014, Saw Swee Hock, LSE by O'Donnell + Tuomey, Ellis Woodman ↗︎€
- Detail Green, Nov 2014, Sustainable Architecture, Students’ centre in London, Vertical market place, Jakob Schoof PDF
- The Independent, 13.10. 2014, ‘Excellent Ordinary’ architecture makes art of even the humblest of buildings, Jay Merrick PDF
- BBC News Magazine, 09.10. 2014, Riba Stirling Prize 2014, Saw Swee Hock Student Centre (with interactive videos) ↗︎
- The Financial Times, 24.09. 2014, Irish couple cement place with Saw Swee Hock, Edwin Heathcote PDF
- Architecture Ireland, Issue 274, May 2014, A Hot Red Masterpiece, Tim Ronalds PDF
- Bouwen Met Baksteen, Sep 2014, Buitenlandse Architectuur, New student centre for London School of Economics and Political Science (Dutch) PDF
- Terre Cuite et Construction, Sep 2014, Architecture Internationale, New student centre for London School of Economics and Political Science (French) PDF
- Baumeister, Aug 2014, Klinkerfilter, Sabine Schneider PDF
- Bauwelt, 29-30, 08.08 2014, Gefaltetes Studentenzentrum, Anna Schabel PDF
- The Observer, 20.07. 2014, The Stirling prize should go to…, Rowan Moore PDF
- The Irish Times, 17.07. 2014, O’Donnell + Tuomey builds on success brick by brick, Frank McDonald PDF
- The Daily Telegraph, 17.07. 2014, Why the Shard isn’t a shoo-in, Ellis Woodman PDF
- GA Document, No. 128 July 2014, O’Donnell + Tuomey – New Student Centre London School of Economics PDF
- Irish Arts Review, Summer 2014, Strange, Familiar and Old, Kester Rattenbury PDF
- C3, No. 366, 02.04. 2014, Urban How - Into the Historic Fabric (cover) PDF
- AMC, Issue 231, March 2014, O’Donnell+Tuomey Maison des étudiants Londres, Catherine Séron-Pierre
- The Architectural Review, March 2014, Pattern Language, Kester Rattenbury PDF
- New London Quarterly, Spring 2014, Putting down roots, Peter Murray, Julian Robinson PDF
- Architects’ Journal, 28.02. 2014, Red brick university, Building Study, Joseph Rykwert PDF
- The Irish Times, 26.02. 2014, Building a profile: Irish architects making their mark on London, Frank McDonald PDF
- The Guardian, 21.02. 2014, LSE’s new students’ union: a lesson in architectural origami, Oliver Wainwright PDF↗︎
- The Observer, 16.02. 2014, An addition worthy of honours, Rowan Moore PDF
- RIBA Journal, February 2014, Angles with poise, Hugh Pearman PDF
- Architecture Today, February 2014, Saw Swee Hock Student Centre (cover), Ros Diamond PDF
- Space for Architecture, 2014
- Summer Exhibition Illustrated 2014, A Selection from the 246th Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, Hughie O'Donoghue (Editor)
- Brick Bulletin, Winter 2013, Three projects, three cities, Emmet Scanlon PDF
- Nevertheless, There is This Thing Called Architecture, 2013
- Plan Magazine, March/April 2012, Useful Beauty! PDF
- Irish Architecture, The RIAI Annual Review, Vol. 2, RIAI, Sandra O’Connell (Editor)
- The Irish Times, 19.12. 2011, Talking up Irish design in the Windy City, Irish Architecture Now US tour (LA, Chicago, Berkeley, Harvard, Pittsburgh), Frank McDonald ↗︎€
- The Sunday Times, 14.08. 2011, Top drawer, Stephen Best ↗︎€
- GA Document, No. 117 2011, International 2011, Emerging Future PDF↗︎
- BD Magazine, 31.05. 2011, LSE New Students’ Centre by O’Donnell + Tuomey, Technical: Brick, Amanda Birch PDF
- RIBA Journal, May 2011, Handover #1:, Hugh Pearman on O’Donnell + Tuomey, Hugh Pearman PDF
- Arkitektur, April 2011, Form med stark närvaro, Interview with O’Donnell + Tuomey, Dan Hallemar PDF
- 21 Century London, The New Architecture, Merrell, Kenneth Powell
- Irish Architecture, The RIAI Annual Review, Vol. 1, RIAI, Sandra O’Connell (Editor)
- MATERIALpoetry, STUDIOpractice, Coracle ↗︎
- Ways of Working, 2010
- BD Magazine, 3rd July 2009, O’Donnell & Tuomey wins LSE competition, Tom de Castella