Fosters Win Over Mayor For Imperial Extension

London Mayor Boris Johnson has given his thumbs-up to the Foster designed extension of Imperial College on Exhibition Road in Kensington.

The scheme stands on part of the site that was originally the Imperial Institute, a spectacular gothic-revival pile that was shamefully demolished in the sixties with only the Victoria Tower remaining, and replaces the Black Tower and East Annex of the current college.

With eight floors above ground including a mezzanine level and a basement, it will offer new laboratory space for Imperial College, one of the world's leading scientific institutions, plus lecture theatres and conference rooms.
Foster + Partners have broken the building up into two pieces with the eight-storey corner element dominated by angled bay windows that texture the fenestration and give it the sort of look that will make many modernists very happy.

Adjoining this further down Exhibition Road is the second part of the project, a glass box that manages the three laboratory and research levels clearly floating in it a number of storeys above ground as a separate internal element that’s laid horizontally.

It also has other parts of the building opened behind the transparent glass façade, whilst the horizontal nature of the research space is broken up by the vertical columns that run along the frontage of the building.

In welcoming the scheme warmly the Mayor's office has made only two recommendations with regards to the application made by Fosters, both of which are minor.

Firstly they want a contribution of £12,000 to help improve the bus service along Exhibiton Road and secondly they'd like a little more information on the green nature of the building. Both of these are minor and should be easily overcome meaning Imperial College will at last get the new facilities it so badly needs.