LSE is an urban university, a diverse collection of buildings in the heart of London. Our lack of purpose-built teaching space has held back our growth, making it difficult to extend an LSE education to many highly qualified applicants.

The New Academic Building (NAB) will transform the LSE campus, providing contemporary and flexible teaching and learning space for the School and consolidating the departments of Law and Management, which have been fragmented by the pressures of space.

New academic building update - May 2008

The New Academic Building is still on schedule for full occupation in time for the start of the new academic year in October.

Two years of construction work are almost over, and once opened the New Academic Building will provide LSE with four new lecture theatres and two floors of teaching space alongside academic and departmental offices.

LSE alumni and friends from more than 20 countries have already contributed over £10 million of philanthropic support. Five donors have provided gifts of over £1 million, including alumni Arif (BSc Economics 1982) and Fayeeza Naqvi (BSc Economics 1982) who have generously contributed £2.5 million to name the large lecture theatre.

More than 300 parents have also lent their support through the Friends and Family Programme, contributing more than £92,000 towards the building.

Richard Karl Goeltz (General Course 1963) Development Committee and North American Advisory Board member said: ‘The New Academic Building is perhaps the most ambitious and significant enhancement of the LSE campus to date. It’s size, location and architectural features and developments will enhance the School’s presence and connect with its surroundings.

‘However, it will also provide the infrastructure to bring together previously fragmented departments and play a key role in the long-term strategic planning for the LSE campus.’

How you can help

With the support of alumni and friends, LSE is aiming to raise £10 million for the New Academic Building, which will provide extensive contemporary and flexible teaching and learning space for the School. Your support has brought us over halfway to that total, with £6 million already having been pledged towards the building.

Private support is the difference between a good building and a great one and your support will be vital in enabling us to enhance and make a real difference to the LSE student experience.

For more information on how to support the New Academic Building, please contact Rachel Jones at r.h.s.jones@lse.ac.uk or +44 (0) 20 7955 7449

Background

The NAB was formally the old Public Trust Building, built around 1912 and bounded by the Kingsway, Sardinia Street and Lincoln's Inn Fields. The School purchased it in October 2004 and following an international design competition, LSE appointed award winning architects Grimshaw, to transform it into a landmark teaching and learning space in the heart of London.

The Building will contain four new lecture theatres, more than 30 classrooms, research facilities and academic offices on the upper floors, including state-of-the-art terrace teaching facilities on the eighth floor. Plans include a café and outdoor seating area onto Lincoln's Inn Fields. Sustainability will be a key feature

If you are interested in following news of the build, please visit the LSE estates special website New academic building.

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