Macadam Building, FutureLearn Environments, London

Office and Workplace

LTS Architects was appointed to design the third and fourth phases of the refurbishment of the Macadam Building, creating customized teaching and research spaces in collaboration with KCL, including an Engineering Lab, Digital Learning Lab, and flexible teaching zones, as well as accommodating a pilot project on Level 3 exploring innovative teaching methods and technology.

Client
King’s College London
Location
London, UK
Status
Completed

Team

    1. Contractor Overbury
    2. M&E Engineer AECOM
    3. PM KCL
    4. CDM Coordinator KCL
    5. Quantity Surveyor G&T
    6. Fire Consultant Hoare Lea
    7. Building Control MLM / SHORE
    8. Photographer LTS Architects

The renovation works on basement level -4 involved creating a new Engineering Lab that facilitates the teaching of Robotics and Electronics. This addition was necessary to enhance the existing teaching capacity by providing facilities for both theoretical investigation and practical hands-on experimentation. The space was designed to be highly flexible, featuring a stretch of double-height space with high-level windows that serve as an ideal zone for Drone/Robot Flying and Testing.

Level -1 houses a Digital Learning Lab, which is used for teaching Digital Humanities. LTS collaborated with the department to develop different flexible teaching zones, including The Coding Zone, The Deliberation Zone, Informal Learning, and Small Group Pods.

Level 2 was designed to accommodate two modes of teaching: Traditional Mode and Collaboration Mode. The focus here was on flexibility and experimentation, with high-end AV specifications. LTS created new flexible teaching spaces, which include two classrooms, an informal area, and study booths.

Level 3 is home to a year-long pilot project led by KCL. The project aims to explore future learning environments, innovative teaching pedagogies, and new collaborative ways of working, all facilitated by new technologies. To support this, the space needed to be highly flexible, allowing for separate functionalities that can be combined as needed. One notable feature is the lighting design, which creates distinct zones that can be controlled by users. Additionally, full-height writable pivot doors separate different areas within the space.

Level 3 hosts a year-long pilot project led by KCL, which aims to explore the learning environments of the future, different teaching pedagogies and new collaborative ways of working using new technologies. To support this, the space was required to be highly flexible and operate for separate functionalities which can be pieced back together. Notably, the lighting was designed to create zones which have been programmed for user control, and full height writable pivot doors separate the different areas.