The project involved the comprehensive redevelopment of the London Road Building, the largest building on the London South Bank University campus in Southwark. The commission sought to transform a substantial 1970s structure into a contemporary academic facility, incorporating a new main library, teaching spaces, sports and recreation areas, cafés, and a variety of study and social environments. The intervention included a complete reorganisation of the building’s internal layout, the creation of a new entrance atrium, a full redesign of the external envelope, and an integration of the building into the university’s evolving public realm. Ultimately, the project was conceived to establish the building as a new gateway to the campus.
Juan Valeros took part in the project over a period of three years, from early design stages through to completion. He had a key role focused on the design
and technical development of the building envelope, as well as the structural coordination of the new additions to the existing concrete frame.
The design of the envelope addressed several key aspects: establishing a new civic and contemporary identity for the building; introducing windows in previously blank façades, particularly in the upper levels occupied by the library; creating a new principal entrance that would redefine the building’s relationship with the campus; enclosing two of the building’s three original courtyards to form larger, brighter interior spaces; and significantly improving the building’s thermal performance through new insulation systems, high-performance glazing, and passive solar-control strategies.
London Road Façade
This façade plays a central role due to its direct exposure to one of the main avenues surrounding the campus, the street that also gives the building its name. Formerly almost entirely blank, it now features four large openings aligned with the existing structure. These are framed by perforated metal deep fins that filter light into the library on the upper floors. At ground level, more controlled openings bring daylight
into the sports areas behind. The new composition breaks down the scale of an 80-metre-long elevation into more human-scaled elements. The remaining opaque areas are clad in brick over the existing concrete structure, with added insulation and a ventilated cavity, while the lower sections are finished with metal cladding.
Main Entrance
One of the project’s most transformative interventions is found at the main entrance. A large steel structure spans between two escape-stair towers to form a three-storey atrium that organises the entrance hall and the new lift core. A projecting metal canopy creates a semi-covered threshold, producing a carefully staged spatial transition between the compressed access point and the height of the atrium. On either side, study spaces and classrooms open onto a redesigned
façade where the original aluminium system, marked by inclined planes and setbacks, was replaced by a cleaner and more continuous curtain-wall solution. This combines GRC (Glass Reinforced Concrete) panels—alternating opaque and glazed sections—with areas defined by slender vertical fins that provide solar control and a lighter reading of the façade.
The Library
On the upper floors, the structural work associated with the library required enclosing two of the three existing courtyards, creating large, flexible open-plan rooms. The new roofs were built using full-depth steel beams spanning the former courtyards and bearing on the original concrete columns.
Above them, a system of longitudinal rooflights brings even daylight into the main reading spaces. These new roof structures support, via a system of tension columns, two additional slabs—one over each former courtyard—which extend the usable area of the library.
