Saw Swee Hock Student Centre, LSE - audio described Architecture Tour
- Saw Swee Hock Student Centre, LSE - audio described Architecture Tour
- Saw Swee Hock Student Centre
Tour starts: 9.30am (Please arrive by 9.15am for a prompt start)
The tour will be led by VocalEyes Describer Lonny Evans with Julian Robinson, director of Estates, London School of Economics who worked closely with the Architects on the development of the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre.
Building Date: 2014
Architects: O'Donnell + Tuomey
Awards: RIBA National Award 2014, RIBA London Building of the Year Award 2014, RIBA Regional (London) Award 2014, RIBA Stirling Prize Shortlist 2014, The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) International Award 2014
Nearest Tube: Holborn (Central and Piccadilly Lines)
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.
In the midst of a complex mediaeval London street pattern Irish Architects John Tuomey and Sheila O’Donnell have woven a little of their magic. This remarkable building is an object lesson in mobilising the limitations of a site into a startlingly original building which makes a massive contribution to the London townscape.
The building is designed to embody the dynamic character of a contemporary Student Union. The complex geometries of the site provided a starting point for an unconventional arrangement of irregular floor plates, each one particular to its function and each working into the next by an intricate system of trapezoidal spatial configuration. Space flows freely in horizontal plan and vertical section, with stairs gently twisting and slowly turning to create a variety of diagonal break-out spaces at landings and crossings throughout the building.
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 creates dappled daylight in particular spaces and, at night, when all the lights are on inside, the building is seen from the streets like a glowing lattice lantern.
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.
Booking:
It would be appreciated if you booked by using the following link to our Survey Monkey Open House Weekend 2015 Booking Form.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VocalEyesOpenHouse
If you have any problems at all using this form then please do either email enquiries@vocaleyes.co.uk or call the office on 020 7375 1043.
How to get there
The address is 1 Sheffield Street, London, WC2A 2AP.
The nearest Tube is Holborn on the Central and Piccadilly Lines.
Turn Left out of Holborn Tube station and walk along Kingsway for about ten minutes. You'll cross several small intersecting roads which lead to Lincoln’s inn fields on your left. Carry along Kingsway until you reach the Peacock Theatre on your left and then turn left into Portugal street. Walk past the theatre and turn immediately left into Sheffield Street. The entrance to the SAW is on your left.
The area is well served by buses.
Numbers 8, 19, 38, 22B, 25, 188, 501 and 521 stop on High Holborn
For stops on Kingsway, take buses 1, 68, 91, 168, 171, 188, 501, 505, 521, X68
Bus numbers 4, 11, 15, 23, 26, 76, 171, 341 stop on the Aldwych or Strand
Disabled parking spaces are available nearby at Lincoln’s Inn Fields.
Do visit the Architecture pages of our website to find out more about audio description of architecture and what happens on a tour.
You will also find a link to a page of our website which lists information about buildings we have described in previous years and about other architecture events VocalEyes has offered.
And why not click on to 'The Johnson Building: an Audio Insight' to listen to an audio podcast featuring the tour of that building (designed by AHMM).
For more about Open House visit The Open House Website.
We must thank the Greater London fund for the Blind and the Sir Jules Thorn Trust for their support in making this year’s tours possible.
