Department of Engineering and Science

Now part of the University of Westminster, this technically and spatially complex building helped to address to need for increased and improved scientific and technical education in the post-war period. It was designed to host the departments of physics, chemistry, biology electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and mathematics for the Polytechnic of Central London and to house over 200 staff and approximately 2000 students. The Inner London Education Authority’s three phase plan for the development of the then Regent Street Polytechnic was approved by the LCC and the Ministry of Education in the early 1960s. The building stands on the podium, which extends across the whole site. Within the podium are the large engineering labs underground parking and a boiler house. The main entrance, from New Cavendish Street, rises up a set of wide shallow steps and the sloping soffit of a first floor lecture theatre forms a part of the compressive sequence of arrival. The open ground floor was achieved by clustering the lecture theatres together with a library at the heart of the scheme. The building’s mass was primarily dictated by daylighting code restrictions within maximum permissible height for this part of London. Externally, the various elements of the assembly are identifiable by their finish. The vertical circulation cores and enclosed lecture theatres are expressed as solid structural forms, contrasted against the narrow module of the bronze curtain walling system. The use of a 600mm wide module in milled manganese bronze accommodated the complex geometry of the building form in relation to the planning restrictions. The strength of the bronze alloy meant the mullions could have a small cross-sectional area, in turn making this apparently extravagant choice economically efficient. The architects also designed a pub on the corner of Clipstone Street and Cleveland Street to replace one lost to the development of the site. The partners in charge were Lawrence Israel and Tom Ellis with Samuely & Partners as engineering consultants.