Universities are the principal anchors for every regeneration proposition in the UK. Their economic placemaking capability, pervasive social and cultural underwrite, capacity to originate radial community wealth and intense focus on sustainability are of course core ingredients to successful regeneration.
From London’s perspective these centres of learning anchored King’s Cross(1), institutionalised Stratford(2), established Brent Cross(3), were the ground breakers for Canada Water(4) and further reinvigorated Chiswick Park(5). To what extent Universities are going to physically endorse London’s next generation of hub developments at Old Oak Common, Earls Court, Euston and Silvertown remains to be seen- although clearly Imperial College is booking an early reservation on the back of Old Oak Common Station’s delivery, following their 9.6 acre industrial park acquisition in Acton which Savills undertook for Imperial at the end of last year.
Having recently been lucky enough to have seen at first hand the scale of Old Oak Common station’s site construction, considered to be the UK’s largest, we would certainly recommend that Universities from across the globe take a moment to consider how this superhub’s connectivity could become an academic fulcrum for UK and International students when complete. There’s plenty of time to plan as it will not be ready until the early 2030’s when Old Oak Common will become the major interchange for HS2, Great Western Railway and the Heathrow Express- 14 new platforms servicing some 250,000 passengers a day, surrounded by the additional local connectivity of the Central Line, Bakerloo Line and London Overground.
Not only will this confluence of rail infrastructure be the catalyst for an estimated 25,000 new homes and 56,000 new jobs, but perhaps Old Oak Common will also be considered as the UK’s new cathedral to and for sustainable travel. The travel times that have recently been published are almost beyond comprehension, specifically;
- West End in 10 minutes
- City of London 20 minutes
- Heathrow, via either the Elizabeth Line or the Heathrow Express, 10 minutes.
- Birmingham Curzon Street Station 35 minutes
- Birmingham Curzon to Heathrow less than an hour
To what extent the University of Brimingham, Aston, Harper Adams, Loughborough, Birmingham City University etc., will even wish to consider Old Oak Common as an opportunity to generate a dual City presence will be interesting to monitor and indeed support. Clearly, as with Stratford post the 2012 Olympics there’s plenty of room at Old Oak before hopefully the UK win the bid for the 2040 Olympics!
- Central St Martins (University of the Arts London) moved into King’s Cross Granary Square 2011
- Stratford Campus includes UCL East, Loughborough University & London College of Fashion and most recently Arden University
- Sheffield Hallam University due to open their new campus at Brent Cross Town in the Autumn of 2026
- The new partnership to promote science and technology innovation at Canada Water between King’s College London and British Land was signed in July last year
- Richmond American University moved to Chiswick Park in September 2022