Following the announcement last month that the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) had shortlisted five designs for their new Global Centre for Social Sciences (GCSS) in London's Aldwych, they have now revealed that "there’s not one really outstanding scheme" and "there’s some further work to do by the practices and the LSE." Therefore contestants Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, OMA, Hopkins Architects, Grafton Architects, and Henegham Peng Architects must reconsider their proposed designs.
The five anonymous entries for the £90million project were exhibited in London and voted on by members of the public before the jury, which includes Craig Calhoun (LSE Director) and Ricky Burdett (LSE Professor of Urban Studies), deliberated last month.
The site is located near O'Donnell + Tuomey's new Students' Union which, according to Julian Robinson (LSE Estates Director), was a scheme "head and shoulders above the rest" in that competition in 2010. The reason for the difficulties with this particular competition "may be to do with the design brief constraints and sheer scale of what we are attempting." According to Robinson, "it was an exceptionally challenging brief as it’s right in the middle of our campus." As the university's largest building project ever, the new GCSS building is set to "transform" the world-leading institution.
A winner from the current shortlist is expected to be announced by the end of the year, once the architects have revised their proposals.
References: BDOnline
