London South Bank University

LSBU had entered into an agreement with the landlord of Electric House in Croydon, to lease and redevelop the building.

Electric House is an impressive building, which was originally constructed between 1939-1942 as electricity showrooms and offices. While the university’s main campus is in Elephant and Castle, the position of this new space means that not only can they add facilities, but it’s located in a way that makes the university more accessible to a new student populous heading out towards Surrey.

At the time of starting the project, Electric House had sat derelict for about seven years. The university envisaged creating two floors for their business school as well as a floor of mock hospital wards including a physiotherapy suite for their health and social care programmes.

At the time the project was conceived, Croydon had set its sights on becoming a centre of creativity, business, learning and culture. LSBU’s vision was an ideal match – the perfect catalyst for attracting a new generation to the area, whilst restoring a building in the heart of the Croydon community.

Working in collaboration with the leader of Croydon Council, the Cabinet Member for Economy and Jobs and Cabinet Minister for Children, Young People and Learning, an agreement was reached for LSBU to occupy the whole of Electric House. The university’s Capital Programme Director and his team were tasked with delivering the new campus to an incredibly fast programme, for which we were ideally suited.

The challenge was to respect and convert the 78,000 sq ft 1930s, Grade II listed building into a state-of-the-art higher education facility, ensuring the sustainable, electrical, mechanical and digital requirements met the needs of the 21st-century. This needed to be done whilst maintaining existing listed features to satisfy both Croydon Council planners and Heritage England, all at an affordable cost.

Maris was set to manage the whole process from change of use to the full Cat A and Cat B fit out and weatherproofing. The delivery of the project was challenging, with extensive exploratory and remedial work, in collaboration with Heritage England, to make sure we retained original features and did not detract from the beauty of the property. The objective was to bring it back to life whilst being sympathetic to the past.

The main point of historic significance was the entrance, complete with original marble and impressive stone pillars. It required us to integrate accessibility using bespoke design solutions without compromising the signature design of the space. We also needed to maintain the original marble whilst integrating a modern reception area.

The original windows couldn’t be replaced we had to look at alternative methods for addressing EPC ratings through things like insulation in roof details to ensure sustainability. Other elements included the implementation of a mechanical ventilation system and preservation of a beautiful sweeping staircase.

We were careful to integrate the Art Deco heritage with the modern design, a key example of which was in the original boardroom. A beautiful, oval space with double height ceilings, it would become a lecture space with bleacher seating.

There were challenges on the project, mostly due to the age of the building, and programming for additional works was a serious issue as any extension of time would have a detrimental effect on LSBU opening the campus at start of term.

We worked with LSBU to ensure the refurbishment works and additional works were completed on time to allow the University Campus to open for the new student year in September. That success was due to the experience of the team as well as the collaborative working relationship between Maris and LSBU, whose mutual focus at the forefront of the project was always on the university’s best interests.