The Royal College of Art is in the middle of an exciting programme of expansion, creating a second campus in Battersea that will have a transformative effect on the College.

The existing Sculpture Building has been completely refurbished and in January 2010 students moved into the new Sackler Building for Painting.

Construction of the next phase of the RCA’s landmark development – the Dyson Building – began in January 2010 and the departments of Printmaking and Photography will relocate to Battersea when the building is complete in 2012.

The Dyson Building makes up the largest part of the new campus, with a gross internal area of 4,750 sqm. Alongside the printmaking and photography studios, the building will also house: a large gallery fronting Battersea Bridge Road, providing a shop window for the creative processes that take place inside our building; a state-of-the art lecture theatre to accommodate a busy teaching programme for all students, as well as hosting large keynote lectures, presentations and films; and incubator units for emerging designers.

The incubator units will provide a structured environment in which newly formed design businesses can develop and become self-sufficient within a community of like-minded enterprises, each having access to dedicated studio/workshop space and to a range of shared facilities within the College.

The final phase of the Battersea development is a building for the Applied Arts departments of Ceramics & Glass and Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork & Jewellery. When the whole project is complete in 2014, more than 300 RCA students will be based in Battersea.