Passivhaus economics stack up for LSE

The London School of Economics (LSE) has secured planning approval for the redevelopment of Bankside House into a 1,945-bed student residence, delivering affordable, high-quality accommodation targeting the Passivhaus standard.

The project replaces the current Bankside House office-turned-residence with three stepped towers of 24, 26 and 28 storeys. These towers will be linked by two low-rise pavilions around generous courtyards. The scheme will also have a publicly accessible community hub, café and strengthened connections to nearby Tate Modern.

Around 60% of LSE's 12,000 students currently live in private accommodation because of a shortage of LSE-managed rooms. LSE has committed to expanding its accommodation offer to 6,000 bed spaces and guaranteeing a place to every new first-year student. All the rooms proposed for the Bankside redevelopment will be at sub-market rents, with 15% of bed spaces meeting the London Plan definition of Affordable Student Accommodation (capped at 55% of the maximum maintenance loan).

This is the culmination of a ten-year engagement with the borough on the redevelopment of our Bankside residences. Working with the Southwark team we have crafted an affordable, sustainable and high-quality design which will make a significant contribution to the borough. The scheme’s civic offer is incredibly strong with genuine public access and community uses integrated within the building, and we can’t wait to see LSE’s world-class estate extended south of the river.

Julian Robinson, Director of Estates, LSE

The ambitious all-electric project has been designed with a whole-life carbon approach and is targeting high environmental standards, aiming to meet Passivhaus standard and BREEAM Excellent. The development is targeting operational energy use of approximately 45–55 kWh/m²/year. The scheme also aims to embody circular-economy principles and is targeting more than 99% diversion of waste from landfill and at least 20% recycled or reused content by value. Landscaped terraces and gardens at podium level aim to contribute to climate resilience and provide social and biophilic amenity for students.

PHT member Sheppard Robson is one of the architects on the project, with PHT Patron Max Fordham as Passivhaus Consultant. PHT Patron Etude is the Passivhaus Certifier.

Key stats

Number of units: 1945 student bedrooms
TFA: 40,000 m²
GIA: 60,000 m²
GEA: 68,425 m²
Expected build start date: 2027
Expected completion: 2032
Certification: Aiming for Passivhaus

LSE Bankside Passivhaus student accommodation. Image credit: Jeudi Wang

On a student scale, we wanted every room - both spatially and climatically - to be a genuinely good room, meeting Passivhaus standards and setting a new benchmark for sustainable design.

Rupert Goddard, Sheppard Robson & Rowan Seaford, Carmody Groarke

We're delighted to be part of the team on this project, taking high-quality Passivhaus student accommodation onward and upward in the UK.

It's been great taking the lessons learnt from designing, delivering, and carrying out post-occupancy evaluation (POE) on a series of industry-leading Passivhaus purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) projects, and applying them to a project that combines massive impact for the LSE, sits in an iconic location, and has such a progressive sustainability brief.

It's been a pleasure working alongside the LSE, the design team, and the Bouygues UK team, with really engaged input from their technical experts.

Gwilym Still, Director, Max Fordham