Estates News Updates

Portugal Street will be closed to traffic for the duration of the Graduation ceremonies 16 - 19 December 2024 from 8am to 8pm.

Please see the traffic management plan detailing the diversion route below. 

Please note, there will be limited access to Gorger Alley and a parking bay suspension on Portugal Street (Beside Peacock Theatre).

What do students think about the Estate? Evolving LSE's campus to meet students' needs

Studies on student perceptions of campus quality were undertaken in 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023, and in 2012 research on what student aspirations for campus study space, were undertaken. Find out how the School addressed the complex challenge of evolving the campus to meet students' wants and needs.

As part of the Bankside House redevelopment planning application we are required to undertake a survey of the usage of cycle racks on campus.  This will involve installing temporary cameras that will monitor usage of all campus cycle storage for approximately one week.

The cameras will be installed on Thursday 28 November and removed on Friday 6 December 2024.  Signage will be installed at each point to make everyone aware of the cameras and their purpose.

If you have any questions please contact Stuart Pennycook at: s.pennycook@lse.ac.uk

These works will not commence on 28 October, as planned.  Once a start date has been agreed this will be communicated.  Apologies for any inconvenience.

Essential roofing and building fabric work to George IV Building will commence on 29 July 2024. Due to unforseen works during construction, the completion date will now be 13 December 2024.

To ensure the safety of students and staff passing through this area, the contractor will put out safety barriers around the working area when they are putting up and taking down the scaffolding.

George IV Pub will continue trading throughout the construction programme and their opening hours will not be affected by the construction works.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused during these essential maintenance works.

If you have any further queries or problems, please contact: d.mcpherson1@lse.ac.uk 

Due to roof works at 265 Strand, Clement's Inn will close at Strand end (access will be via CBG steps) 8 - 11 July (4pm-10pm) and possibly 12 July, 4pm-10pm (if weather delays occur).

Please use the alternative route during this time:

The fire assembly point for Clement House occupants will be outside the Garrick during this time. 

Back in February 2024, LSE received £2.7m of funding from Salix.  As reported, these funds will be used to take a whole building retrofit approach to the decarbonisation of two campus buildings: Connaught House (CON) and Lionel Robbins Building (LRB).

Find out more about the project that will start soon and is estimated to complete in Winter 2025. 

The Old Curiosity Shop has been awarded winner in the RICS Regional Awards 2024 category of Heritage Project for the London region.  The project was one of 9 London projects shortlisted for the regional award. 
Congratulations to Barbara Moldawa from our Capital Development team, who led the project for LSE Estates.
Read more about the awards here

A tower crane is due to be installed at 35 Lincoln’s Inn Fields (elevation facing the Sir Arthur Lewis Building, SAL) on the weekend of 8 – 9 June 2024 which will involve a road closure to part of Lincoln Inn Fields (LIF). The map below illustrates the extent of the roads and parking bays that will be affected during the erection of the tower crane. Notices have been posted on lampposts in the area advising of the road closures.

The closures will commence on Saturday 8 June from 6:00am and roads will reopen on Sunday 9 June at 8.00pm. The contractor has provided the following programme of activities for the weekend.

Read more about the Firoz Lalji Global Hub Redevelopment Project and, more specifically, find out how the demolition works may impact you.

Due to scaffolding removal at 265 Strand, Clement's Inn will close each evening from 5-11pm (6-11pm during exams in CLM and PAN) from 6 May - 3 June 2024.

Please use the alternative route during this time:

The fire assembly point for Clement House occupants will be outside the Garrick during this time. 

Access via Clare Market will be closed on Saturday 13 April from 8am - 5pm to facilitate a crane lift.

Please use St Clement's Lane during this time.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

As part of the Old Building Refurbishment and Electrification Project, some essential electrical works necessitate building closures and power shutdown to OLD and STC. This work will also require DTS Services to run at risk for Campus and Residential Services:

DTS services will be running at risk on the following dates:

Saturday 23 March 8am to 9am

Tuesday 2 April 9am to 5pm

Details of when and where these works will take place:

St Clements 

• Saturday 23 March 8am – 9am power shutdown within STC
• Tuesday 2 April STC closed

Old Building

• Wednesday 3 April and Thursday 4 April 
  OLD will have power outages from 8:30am – 6.30pm (OLD to CON access via 2^nd floor link bridge will be maintained)
• Local power circuits and heating and ventilation systems may also be affected in these areas.
• These works have been planned during the Easter closure period to minimise the impact on building occupants.  Thank you for your cooperation.
• Saturday 13 April Clare Market closed 8am – 5pm to facilitate crane lift. 

For more information about the project, see the latest newsletter.

There will be a partial road closure and pedestrian diversion on Portsmouth Street (between Coopers Restaurant and Angelo's Barber Shop) between 9am and 4pm on Saturday 10 February 2024.  This is due to crane operations, carrying out roof repairs at 50 Lincoln's Inn Fields. See plan for exact location.

As part of the Old Building Refurbishment works, scaffolding in Clare Market will be removed from Monday 4 December to Friday 8 December 2023.

A lorry will be parked in Clare Market as indicated on the logistics plan.

Barriers will segregate the works area from the pedestrian route.

Pedestrian access to the nearby buildings will be unaffected and pedestrians will still be able to go through Clare Market.

Thank you for your cooperaton during these works.

Find out the latest on the Firoz Lalji Global Hub project at 35 Lincoln's Inn Fields.

A Public Exhibition will be held in the Marshall Building 31 October - 17 November 2023 showing the updated submission.

Come along to the next Town Hall meeting on Monday 6 November 12:00 - 1pm in the Shaw Library to find out more.

Pavement light improvement works to 20 Kingsway will commence on 30 October and complete by 3 November 2023.  

These works will include noisy works, which will take place between 8am - 10am each day. It is our intended target to complete noisy works no later than 10am each day making every attempt to ensure this. We will make best endeavours to reduce any noisy impact during reading week.

Entrance to 20 Kingsway will not be affected during the works but please be mindful that access on the pavement in front of 20 Kingsway will be reduced slightly due to the works.

To ensure the safety of students and staff passing through this area, the contractor will put out safety barriers around the working area. 

We apologise for any inconvenience caused during these works.

If you have any queries or problems pleas contact: d.mcpherson1@lse.ac.uk

Find out how the project is progressing in the October newsletter (pdf)

As a result of customer feedback, LSE Estates Division has appointed five Building Managers to be the primary point of contact on Estates related issues for Departments, Research Centres and Divisions.  Find out who the appointed Building Manager is for your building and how to contact them.

Works are progressing on the Old Building refurbishment project.  The link bridge between Old Building and St. Clement's has now been removed.  As part of the refurbishment some toilet facilties are currently out of action.  Check out the September 2023 newsletter (pdf) or visit the project page for further information.

Works to remove the OLD/STC link bridge will complete on 26 August 2023.
The scaffolding will be removed between 29 August and 2 September 2023.Clare Market will be closed during this period, please use alternative routes as shown on the map (pdf).

More information about the Old Building Refurbishment project can be found on the latest newletter.

Works to erect scaffolding to enable the removal of the OLD/STC link bridge continue to affect Clare Market access.  The route will be closed to pedestrians on Saturday 29 July and again on Wednesday 2 August 2023.  During these periods please use alternative routes, as shown on the map (pdf).  Information about the Old Building refurbishment project can be found here.

Due to scaffold erection, ahead of the removal of the link bridge between Old Building and St Clement's, Clare Market will be closed to pedestrians from Monday 24 - Wednesday 26 July inclusive.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, please use the alternative routes during this period, as shown on campus map (pdf).

Due to scaffolding erection at 265 Strand, Clement's Inn will close each evening from 5-11pm from 10 - 30 July 2023.

Please use the alternative route during this time:

The fire assembly point for Clement House occupants will be outside the Garrick during this time.

July 2023

The building has a new name and work continues on the electrification project, with key dates approaching (pdf)

April 2023

Update on the project and what to expect in the coming months (pdf)

February 2023

Find out about the New Academic Building Electrification project and associated service shut-downs and mitigation measures (pdf)

A crane lift is planned in the New Academic Building for weekend 25-26 March 2023. Lincoln's Inn Fields and Sardinia Street will be closed at times to faciliate this, see the closure schedule below:

Works are progressing on the Old Building refurbishment project.  Check out the July 2023 newsletter (pdf) or visit the project page for further information.

The Old Building (OLD) is about to undergo some long-awaited refurbishment works.  Occupants are being moved into alternative accommodation whilst these works take place. Find out more about the project here or read the newsletter (pdf)

03 April to mid May 2023

Building fabric improvement work to Old Building will commence on 03 April and complete in mid May 2023.

Ramp access to the main entrance will be out of service from 3 - 7 April and 1 - 5 May as noted on the diagram below, there is alternative ramp access via the Student’s Services Centre in Clare Market.

To ensure the safety of students and staff passing through this area, the contractor will put out safety barriers around the working area when they are putting up and taking down the scaffolding. 

We apologise for any inconvenience caused during these building fabric improvement works.

If you have any further queries or problems, please contact: d.mcpherson1@lse.ac.uk.

03 April to mid August 2023

Essential roofing and building fabric work to King’s Chambers will commence on 03 April and complete in mid August 2023.

To ensure the safety of students and staff passing through this area, the contractor will put out safety barriers around the working area when they are putting up and taking down the scaffolding.

Ye Old White Horse Pub will continue trading throughout the construction programme and their opening hours will not be affected by the construction works.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused during these essential maintenance works.

If you have any further queries or problems, please contact: d.mcpherson1@lse.ac.uk.

LSE Campus has been awarded the Irene Barclay Prize at the Open City Stewardship Awards in respect of our long term strategy for the development and care for our campus. Visit Open City for more information.

LSE appeared on the front cover of the Sept/Oct 2022 edition of Architecture Today which featured a 24 page retrospective on the development of the LSE Estate. 

12 September - 5 December 2022

The Estates Division continues to maintain and improve both residential and campus accommodation in accordance with the Long Term Maintenance (LTM) programme.  The current 10 Year LTM programme to all sites was established from a series of condition surveys last undertaken in 2017. Historically the condition surveys are renewed on a five-year cycle. The current programme is now in its fifth year and is becoming out-of-date and inaccurate.  

NIFES Consulting Group have been appointed to undertake the condition surveys and a review of the LSE’s asset register.  The surveyors who will be on site are: Lee Brown, Ben Coddington, Peter Brown, Reiss Livesey.

The campus surveys will commence on Monday 12 September 2022 and should be completed by 5 December 2022.

General hours of working will be 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday, however earlier times may be adopted to access teaching rooms.  To enable maximum flexibility for accessing all areas in all buildings NIFES have not been tied to a building-by-building programme.

NIFES will need access to all areas on campus to enable an accurate and useful survey to be produced, the surveys are visual and should have minimum impact on building occupants.  For restricted areas on campus, such as comms rooms and security rooms, access will be requested and agreed directly with the relevant department.

Thank you for your co-operation.

If you have any questions please contact Emma Lovegrove e.j.lovegrove@lse.ac.uk  

18 April to early August 2022

Essential roofing work to 9-10 Sheffield Street and Ye Old White Horse Pub will commence on 18 April 2022 and complete in early August 2022.

To ensure the safety of students and staff passing through this area, the contractor will put out safety barriers when they are putting up and taking down the scaffolding, as noted in green (clearance zone) on the diagram below.

Ye Old White Horse Pub will continue trading throughout the construction programme and their opening hours will not be affected by the construction works.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused during these essential maintenance works.

If you have any further queries or problems, please contact: d.mcpherson1@lse.ac.uk.

Lincoln's Inn Fields will be closed between Portsmouth Street and Serle Street (32L to Coopers Restaurant) from Monday 11 to Wednesday 13 April 2022.  This is to facilitate the resurfacing of the carriageway, which is being carried out by F.M. Conway Ltd on behalf of Westminster City Council.  Pedestrian access to properties will be maintained at all times.

Monday 28 February 2022

We are pleased to announce that following the power outage on 17 January 2022 all issues have now been resolved.

Friday 4 February 2022

We are still experiencing issues with some lifts, following the power outage on 17 January 2022

Marshall Building (MAR)

• Lift 130 is currently out of service due to damaged safety edges.  These parts should be fitted on Friday 4 February.

Saw Swee Hock Student Centre (SAW)

• Right hand lift is still currently out of service, once parts are delivered they will be fitted and the lift tested.

  You can still use the alternative lift which will give you access to the basement up to the 5th floor.

Friday 28 January 2022

Since the 17 January there have been issues across campus where mains network power surges have had an impact on LSE buildings. We have been working to resolved these issues.

We have set out below the status of each building:

Connaught House (CON)

• This lift is now working and back in service.

Lionel Robbins Building (LRB)

• This lift is now working and back in service.

Marshall Building (MAR)

• Lift 130 is currently out of service due to damaged safety edges.  These parts have now been ordered and once site they will be fitted.

Saw Swee Hock Student Centre (SAW)

• The manufacturer has attended site and tests have revealed that further components are required.  Currently there is a limited supply of the required parts and only 1 part was available. This has been fitted on the left hand lift and this lift is currently back in service.  The part for the right hand lift should be on site early next week and once delivered will be fitted and the lift tested.
  You can still use the alternative lift which will give you access to the basement up to the 5th floor.

Friday 21 January 2022

Since the 17 January there have been issues across campus where mains network power surges have had an impact on LSE buildings. 

Maintenance have been liaising with UK Power Network (UKPN) daily and are reporting all these issues to them and liaising with their engineers.  The UKPN engineer has investigated the problem and has identified the HV voltage is running high during times of low demand e.g., early mornings or late evenings which is believed to be causing the power surges.

Whilst we continue our discussions with UKPN, a lift engineer is on standby on campus between 7:00 am and 8:00 am (high risk period) to assist with immediate passenger release should the lifts fail. 

We have set out below the status of each building:

Connaught House (CON)

• the power surges are causing a lift failure which means that the lift stops and goes out of service.  Currently we are resetting the lift as required as we continue our discussions with UKPN.

Lionel Robbins Building (LRB)

• the power surges are causing a lift failure which means that the lift stops and goes out of service.  Currently we are resetting the lift as required as we continue our discussions with UKPN.

Marshall Building (MAR)

• Through consultation with the lift installers and engineers we have made some adjustments which seem to have stabilised the issues. 

Saw Swee Hock Student Centre (SAW)

• the power surge has damaged component parts within the 2 main lifts.   Parts have been fitted but we are waiting for the attendance of the manufacturer to recommission the lifts before returning back to service.  Please use the alternative lift which will give you access from the basement up to the 5th floor.

Thursday 20 January 2022

Following the power surge on Monday morning, the following issues are still ongoing.

Connaught House (CON)

• This lift is currently out of service.  We are waiting for a specialist to investigate an intermittent fault which has developed on the lift since the power surge.

Marshall Building (MAR)

• The issues in this building have stabilised.  Should anyone experience any issues please email Estates-Help-Desk@lse.ac.uk  or call the Estates Helpdesk x2444

Saw Swee Hock Student Centre (SAW)

• the power surge has damaged component parts within the 2 main lifts.  Parts have been fitted but we are waiting for the attendance of the manufacturer to recommission the lifts before returning back in service.

Wednesday 19 January 2022

Following the power surge on Monday morning, the following issues are still ongoing. We will provide a further update by the end of the week.

Connaught House (CON)

• The power surges are causing a lift failure which means that the lift returns to ground floor and goes out of service.  Currently we are resetting the lift as required as we continue our discussions with UKPN.

Marshall Building (MAR)

• 4pm update: the power surges are causing a lift failure which means that the lift stops and anyone using the lifts will activate the lift alarm within the lift car to alert the building security who have arranged for passengers to be released.  Whilst we continue our discussions with UKPN, a lift engineer is on standby on campus between 7:00 am and 8:00 am (high risk period) to assist with immediate passenger release should the lifts fail.  To mitigate the impact of future power surges to the lifts we are investigating solution with the installers.
• 3 lifts currently out of order. This is being dealt with by the lift contractors and updates will follow

Saw Swee Hock Student Centre (SAW)

• 4pm update: the power surge has damaged component parts within the 2 main lifts.  Parts are being replaced and we hope to have these lifts back in operation as soon as is possible.
• 2 lifts still out of service due to replacement parts needed but all other lifts can be used as an alternative

Tuesday 18 January 2022

Following the power surge yesterday morning, the following issues are still ongoing, next update Wednesday 19 January at 10am.

Connaught House (CON)

• 3pm update: lift is now back up and running (Resolved)
• 1pm update: Lift out of service, engineer on site. (Ongoing)

Marshall Building (MAR)

• 1pm update: all 4 lifts are now working (Resolved)
• currently 1 lift out of service.  The lift company is currently on site and has shut down all the lifts while they test for any issues and will put the lifts back in service once they are happy all lifts are safe. (Resolved)

(The electrical spike affected the fire alarm panel in MAR which has caused an issue with the lifts.  Both the lift contractor and fire alarm contractor are on site and are dealing with this issue.  We will provide further updates once they have done their inspections). 

Saw Swee Hock Student Centre (SAW) 

• 3pm update: 2 lifts still out of service due to replacement parts needed, the firefighting lift can be used as an alternative.(Ongoing)
• 1pm update: 2 lifts still out of service (Ongoing
• 2 lifts still out of service due to replacement parts needed, the firefighting lift can be used as an alternative.(Ongoing)

Monday 17 January 2022

Early this morning, the Estates team were made aware of a number of power issues across the School campus which appear to have been caused by a power surge. As a result, buildings across campus are experiencing issues in areas such as lifts, power sockets, and in some cases boilers not working.

We will provide further updates throughout the day, next update Tuesday 18 January at 10am.

The following buildings/areas have been affected (link to campus map):

Centre Building (CBG)

• 12 noon update: power restored to 2nd floor (Resolved)
• no power to 2nd floor rooms (Ongoing)
  
  

Connaught House (CON)

• 2.30pm update: lifts back in service (Resolved)
• 12 noon update: lifts out of service (Ongoing)
  
  

Cowdray House (COW)

• 2.30pm update: lifts back in service (Resolved)
• 12 noon update: lifts out of service (Ongoing)
  
  

32 Lincoln's Inn Fields (32L)

• 12 noon update: lifts back in service (Resolved)
• 2 lifts out of service (Ongoing) 
  
  

Lionel Robbins Building (LRB)

• 12 noon update: no power to 3rd floor (Ongoing)
• no power on ground floor (Ongoing)

Marshall Building (MAR)

• All lifts were affected, currently 1 lift still out of service (Partially resolved)

Saw Swee Hock Student Centre (SAW) 

• 12 noon update: power restored to Faith Centre (Resolved)
• no power to Faith Centre (Ongoing)
  
  
• 12 noon update: 2 lifts still out but customers can use the firefighting lift (Ongoing)
• 2 lifts out of service (Ongoing)
  
  
• 4pm update: hot water reinstated (Resolved)
• No hot water (Ongoing) 

We are working through issues as soon as we are made aware of them – in most cases, this is a matter of resetting the service.

UK Power Networks are investigating the cause of the power outage.

If you do have any issues please report these to the Estates Helpdesk

Emergency or urgent Estates issues
Call 020 7955 2444 or 020 7955 6244

Non-urgent Estates issues
Call 020 7955 7956

Staff can also report faults by using the self-service portal