2020 – Town House, Kingston University, London

The Dublin-based practice was selected to design the scheme from a five-strong shortlist following a competition initiated by Kingston University in conjunction with RIBA in 2013. Intended as an innovative learning centre for the University, the open ethos of the building is reflected internally, with over 50 per cent of the 9,400sqm accommodation designed to be open-plan. RIBA crowned this building by Grafton Architects as UK’s best new building with the 2021 Stirling Prize.

“Kingston University Town House is a theatre for life – a warehouse of ideas. It seamlessly brings together student and town communities, creating a progressive new model for higher education, well deserving of international acclaim and attention. In this highly original work of architecture, quiet reading, loud performance, research and learning, can delightfully co-exist. That is no mean feat. Education must be our future – and this must be the future of education.”
Lord Norman Foster, Jury Chair

“We imagined a place where students would feel at home. This building is about people, interaction, light, possibilities. It is about connecting to the community, the passer-by, an invitation to cross the threshold; a three-dimensional framework with layers of silence and layers of sound. Space, volume and light are the organisers. The building edges are not boundaries but active gathering spaces, terraces, galleries. Being outside under the big sky is always just a few steps away. Kingston University gave us this educational vision which we translated into a spatial open matrix. We are absolutely delighted the Kingston Town House has won the prestigious Stirling Prize.”
Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects

Conceived as a cultural and educational hub for students, staff, alumni and the local community, Town House houses the main university library and archive alongside a covered courtyard, dance studios, studio theatre, and adaptable learning space as well as two cafes. The colonnade is at the building’s centre, it is a key part of the scheme providing amenity space with no barriers or hierarchy that is intended to draw students, staff, visitors and the community into the life of the building.

“Imagine a place where reading, dance, performance, lectures, exhibitions, research and learning, happily co-exist, under one roof, and the door is open to everyone. This is the new Town House in Kingston. The juxtaposition of contemplative and active performative activities offers an imaginative approach to education as a process of engagement and discovery. The architecture reflects this openness. Colonnades form welcoming meeting spaces at edges. Interlocking volumes move vertically connecting the building from ground to top. Activities are revealed to the passer by. There are no barriers.”
Grafton Architects

On the upper floors, three cascading landscaped terraces, which promote external movement and circulation throughout the building, form hanging gardens giving a sense of the landscape effortlessly connecting the scheme from ground level to roof. Constructed from reconstituted stone, the outer face of the colonnade echoes the Portland stone facade of the Surrey County Council building opposite, while the inner façade is set back to form the main elevations which relate to the spaces within. The porous nature of the six-storey building is evident through multiple entrances and access points, seamlessly guiding visitors inside.

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