Dublin based practice Grafton Architects have been selected as the winners of the competition to design 44 Lincoln’s Inn fields/the Paul Marshall Building, the next major building project of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).  

Professor Craig Calhoun, Director and President of LSE, chaired the Jury Panel which made the final decision after presentations from the six shortlisted teams.  He commented: “We had an extremely strong field of submissions to choose from but I’m pleased to announce Grafton Architects as the winner of our 44 LIF/The Paul Marshall Building design competition. Their creative design is formal but also fun, and I have no doubt will further enhance LSE’s status as a university with an estate that matches its global academic reputation.”

interior with great atrium

Director of Estates and Jury Panel Member Julian Robinson said:  “We believe Grafton’s design has the potential to provide LSE with a distinctive and seminal piece of university architecture, which expresses the values and aspirations of the School. Combining modernity and tradition we felt it would enhance Lincoln’s inn Fields and connect well with the rest of LSE. It’s an inspiring design and I look forward to working with Grafton and their team to deliver it.”

The life withing the Paul Marshall building

Grafton Architects said "We are absolutely delighted to be given this opportunity to build in this unique location in Lincoln's Inn Fields, across from the wonderful Sir John Soane’s Museum, for a visionary client such as LSE."

The Jury Panel was eight strong including Jane Duncan, President of the RIBA, and Paul Marshall.  Paul Marshall is a major benefactor of LSE, having recently contributed £30m – the School’s largest private philanthropic donation – for the creation of the Marshall Institute for Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship and towards the redevelopment of 44 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, which was purchased by LSE in 2013 from Cancer Research UK. 

The new grand hall office

The new building will house the academic departments of Accounting, Finance and Management and research centres, including the Marshall Institute with teaching facilities as well as new multipurpose sports and arts facilities.

Six architectural teams were shortlisted for the School’s third RIBA design competition:

AL_A, London

David Chipperfield Architects, London, UK

Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Penoyre & Prasad, New York, USA & London, UK

Grafton Architects, Dublin, Ireland

Herzog & de Meuron Architects, Basel, Switzerland & London, UK

Niall McLaughlin Architects + Scott Brownrigg, London, UK

See WA previous media coverage here.

All Images courtesy of LSE

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