Green light for transformation of Royal College of Art’s iconic Kensington campus

The Royal College of Art (RCA) today announces the awarding of full planning permission for the renewal of the College’s iconic Kensington campus. The plans focus on the revitalisation of the RCA’s historic Grade II-listed Darwin Building to meet the high standards of a modern environment for world-leading art and design education.

The design, led by Witherford Watson Mann Architects with Clementine Blakemore Architects, has been shaped through extensive consultation with the RCA community and local partners, including Westminster City Council and Historic England. The result is a careful balance of conservation and transformation - protecting the RCA’s heritage while ensuring its buildings can serve future generations of students.

Works commenced in 2025, and will be progressed through several phases, with completion planned for 2032, allowing the College to continue teaching and research throughout. When complete, the transformational works will secure the College’s Kensington campus as a welcoming, open and future facing home for creativity, supporting the RCA’s position as the world’s leading university of art and design.

The next phase of the plans will see the reinstatement of the historic 1851 Place entrance facing the Royal Albert Hall which will provide a striking new gateway and reconnect the College to Exhibition Road’s world-famous institutions. The project will create new teaching and learning spaces, modernise studios and workshops, and open up the campus with improved accessibility and enhancement of the public realm, inviting greater public engagement and giving local residents and visitors more opportunities to experience the work of RCA students and staff.

The RCA has been ranked the world’s number one university for art and design for 12 consecutive years (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2015–2026). To support its ambition as a leading institution, it must offer facilities that enable its students, staff and alumni to continue undertaking innovative work for decades to come.

The estimated cost for the project is approximately £90million. This is a major investment in the RCA’s future, but also one that will generate longer term savings through increased energy efficiency and consolidated campuses. The scale of the project reflects its ambition: to preserve the RCA’s heritage buildings, deliver state-of-the-art facilities, and ensure the campus meets the highest standards of sustainability and accessibility.