Westminster Kingsway College at Vincent Square

 

Westminster Kingsway College at Vincent Square

Westminster Kingsway College and its antecedents have occupied buildings on Vincent Square in Westminster for over a century. The site has expanded in a number of phases, culminating in a large and idiosyncratic postwar extension by H S Goodhart-Rendel, for which the building was listed at Grade II*. The College was a pioneer in public catering education, and remains one of its leading centres.

Having renewed its long-term commitment to the highly-constrained site, the College was faced with a complex which has evolved piecemeal with consequently poor circulation and accessibility, and a need to replace the 13 obsolescent teaching kitchens and their extensive plant.

We were part of a team led by Turner & Townsend that collectively developed a scheme to dramatically improve the quality of teaching spaces, communal facilities and circulation. The key was the demolition of a rear Edwardian wing to create a new entrance, atrium and air handling systems. Based on an authoritative assessment of significance, we provided detailed advice to the client and design team on how adaptation could be achieved sensitively and played a key role in negotiations with the local authority and EH. These culminated in a successful listed building consent application in 2009.

In 2020, we worked with the College again on their Soho site to provide heritage advice regarding options to develop part of the site.

Client: Westminster Kingsway College