Imperial College White City Campus

White City is an area in flux. The 5.6 ha site for the new campus is surrounded by emerging commercial and residential developments that are shifting the surrounding character. Tech, media and higher education are replacing the low-profile service industries and logistics that once dominated. But the transition is not without its challenges. White City's excellent accessibility by road and rail has the inconvenient side effect of significant transport infrastructure that creates divides in the neighbourhood, and unlike other former industrial sites that rejoice in a heritage of solid brick warehouses, the low-rise buildings here were not likely to be retained. Locating a new campus here would need to tackle these challenges, develop its own character and sense of place, and forge links and connections with its emerging context and neighbours.

Imperial also expects the campus to be a place that will attract private investment as well as academics and students. Delivering this hinges both on the practical - providing plots appropriate for new laboratory and research buildings with a logical service strategy - and something less tangible, that the new campus be dynamic and inclusive, with spaces for 'serendipitous encounters' that will inspire the next generation of great thinkers.

A further complication - this transformation will need to happen in phases as the dictates of donations, funding and commercial opportunities allow but it is important that the campus has a strong sense of place from the outset. In short, to succeed its masterplan needs to combine pragmatism with inspirational vision, a robust new urban structure with long-term adaptability.

The masterplan maximises interactions and connections at every level with a series of spaces where people can come together; a masterplan that has a strong sense of interior focus, but also one that looks outward to its wider community. An attractive public realm will be fundamental with a clear strategy for relating buildings to open spaces. As a ‘serendipity generator’, the masterplan is designed to be a catalyst for the planned and chance encounters that can lead to scientific breakthroughs or inspire new ideas. It is structured around a large, flexible central space that provides not only a strong focus, but also a platform for day-to-day public life. Tall and deep colonnades line this space, creating a clear sense of identity and enabling outdoor public life to continue throughout the year. Opening into the colonnades, wide ground floor frontages will be curated with exhibitions, teaching spaces, and cafes and restaurants.

The masterplan is also outward looking. It is energised by carefully placed connections that will draw people from surrounding communities, neighbouring developments and London’s public transport network into, and through, the campus. Non-academic uses on the site – a hotel and conference centre, residential apartments, shops and cafes – will bring life and activity at all times of the day, week and year.

The masterplan received unanimous consent from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in September 2019. It will take at least twenty years to build. Its inherent flexibility will allow Imperial to respond to changing circumstances, climate, and technological developments.

One of its first projects will be a new, innovative and interconnected home for the School of Public Health, which we are designing. Situated on the western side of the north campus, the new School will amplify work in four key areas: world health, food and nutrition, community health and policy, and children’s health and wellbeing. It will provide collaborative, flexible and interactive research and teaching spaces that embody the masterplan’s vision for nurturing the chance encounters that lead to tomorrow’s discoveries.