In the news

The Saw Swee Hock Student Centre (SAW), LSE’s latest landmark building, has transformed the campus, with the Students’ Union and student-focused departments of the School taking up residence.

The first new building LSE has commissioned in over 40 years, SAW's dramatic sculptural form and unusual perforated brick façade was designed by Irish architect O’Donnell + Tuomey. Since opening its doors on 6 January 2014 it has steadily been garnering praise from students, staff and architecture critics alike.

Critics have called the building “richly considered and finished”, “eccentric and deeply satisfying”, “fantastically individual” and “a fold-out marvel [and] lesson in architectural origami”. To read more, see below: 

 

2019

 

 

2018

2017

2016

Saw Swee Hock building

Architects' Journal, 4 November 2016
Westminster Council announces 'People's Choice' architecture award at AJ100 club

The Irish Times, 8 October 2016
Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks 2014 Saw Swee Hock by O’Donnell + Tuomey

BD Online, 25 April 2016
What LSE's SAW can teach us about procuring brilliant buildlings (pdf)

New London Quarterly, Spring 2016
Coffee break with Michael Lowndes (pdf)

Architects' Journal, 10 March 2016
Competitions (pdf)

2015

Saw Swee Hock building

Designing Ireland, November 2015
Designing Ireland: Episode 4 'Design Thinking’ - © Newgrange Pictures 2015

Building Magazine, 18 November 2015
Short-Term Fix - raising tuition fees gave university estates a shot in the arm, in terms of investment.  But with student numbers predicted to fall and competition fierce how can institutions maintain that momentum? (pdf)

The Times II, 17 November 2015
Barely room to swing a stolen traffic cone - Halls of residence, Why are students being routinely failed? (pdf) 

Architects' Journal, 13 November 2015
University Challenge - how do we ensure we are designing quality buildings? (pdf)

Architects' Journal, 5 June 2015
AJ120 Analysis and data - most inspiring architects and buidings (pdf)

Architects' Journal, 15 May 2015
News in Pictures (pdf)

Building Magazine, 1 May 2015
The Stars of the Show (pdf)

Architects Journal, 27 February 2015
O'Donnell + Tuomey student centre is sole UK contender for Mies Award (pdf)

Arch Daily, 25 February 2015
5 Finalists Selected for the 2015 EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture- Mies van der Rohe Award (pdf)

World Architecture News, 12 January 2015
How cool is my campus? (pdf) by Gail Taylor

2014

 

Saw Swee Hock building interior

The Telegraph, 13 December 2014
University challenge (pdf) by Ellis Woodman 

The Observer, 7 December 2014
Five most inspiring buildings (pdf) by Rowan Moore
The LSE's new student centre by O'Donnell and Tuomey is a quietly impressive 'red brick Eiger' built to real old-school standards of design and construction.

RIBA Journal, 13 November 2014
Brick Award Winners (pdf)
The LSE's student centre, with its high level of ambition and sophistication, was the clear Supreme winner for the judge.

London Live, 16 October 2014
The UK's most prestigious award for architecture, the Riba Stirling Prize, will be decided by a panel of experts later this week.  Here's a short film on each of the three shortlisted London projects.

Building, 17 October 2014
The bookies' favourite (pdf)

Architects Journal, 14 October, 2014
Punters backing O'Donnell + Tuomey to win RIBA Stirling Prize (pdf)
...William Hill has revealed that O’Donnell + Tuomey Architects’ student centre at the LSE has been the most heavily backed to win this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize...

BBC News Magazine, October 2014
Which Riba Stirling Prize 2014 building is your favourite? (link to short film of SAW)
The UK's most prestigious prize for new buildings, the Riba Stirling Prize, will be awarded on 16 October. BBC News Online, in partnership with Riba, is taking a look at each of the contenders for the prize.

The Independent, 13 October 2014
'Excellent Ordinary' architecture makes art of even the humblest of buildings (pdf)

Architects Journal, 10 October 2014
Stirling Prize 2014 (pdf)
A triangular site has produced a response of bold geometries resulting in a popular and convivial building full of pleasures and surprises, writes Jay Merrick

...Today, O'Donnell + Tuomey, the architectural practice behind the design of  the Saw Swee Hock student centre, was awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects' Gold Medal.... 24th September, 2014

Architects Journal, 26 September, 2014

O'Donnell and Tuomey are deserving recipients of this year's Royal Gold Medal (pdf), 

Financial Times, 2014
Irish couple cement place with Saw Swee Hock (pdf), 

Irish Times, 2014
Irish pair win top architecture prize (pdf), 

Building Design Magazine, 2014
O'Donnell & Tuomey wins 2015 Royal Gold Medal (pdf), BD

The Guardian, 2014
Golden couple - RIBA medal given to Irish architects (pdf), 

Architects Journal, September 2014

The AJ and the Concrete Centre present a video study of O'Donnell and Tuomey’s Stirling Prize-shortlisted Saw Swee Hock Student Centre at the LSE

Architects Journal, August 2014
Astragal - Stirling Prize odds turnaround (pdf)
"...a wodge of cash was wagered on O'Donnell + Tuomey's Saw Swee Hock Student Centre....."

Global Architecture Document, July 2014
Edition 128 (pdf) 

BD Online, July 2014
LSE is BD readers' and bookies' Stirling favourite (pdf)
BD readers have given their overwhelming backing to O’Donnell & Tuomey as it battles to convert four unsuccessful Stirling Prize nominations into a victory......

BD Online, July 2014
Stirling Prize Shortlist 2014 (pdf)

Architects Journal, July 2014
Stirling Prize (pdf)
Finalists for the UK's most prestigious architecture award announced 

The Guardian, 17 July 2014
Stirling prize shortlist review by Oliver Wainwright (pdf)
"A twisting, tumbling mountain of bricks...."

The Independent, 17 July 2014
Stirling prize shortlist by Rob Hastings (pdf)

Financial Times, 17 July 2014
City blockbusters feature in Stirling Prize shortlist (pdf)
A review by Edwin Heathcote

The Daily Telegraph, 17 July 2014
Why the Shard isn't a shoo-in (pdf)
Ellis Woodman on the RIBA Stirling architecture prize shortlist
"...ultimately there is a clear front-runner for this year's prize: The London School of Economics' extraordinary Saw Swee Hock Student Centre ..."

Architects Journal, June 2014
Forget politics, let's get passionate about architecture (pdf)
A review of this year's RIBA National and EU Awards by Felix Mara

Architects Journal, June 2014
Letter of the week (pdf), No real competition

Space for Architecture, June 2014
Public lecture hosted by LSE Cities in partnership with LSE Estates
Sheila O'Donnell and John Tuomey discuss the ideas behind their award winning architectural design.  Listen to the podcast

New London Quarterly, Summer 2014
Making the grade (pdf)
Peter Murray looks at competitions as they have affected two projects on different sides of the world

Building Magazine, May 2014
Top universities to spend £9bn on estates by 2017 (pdf)

Architecture Ireland, May 2014
'A Hot Red Masterpiece'  (pdf)
Reports by O'Donnell + Tuomey and Tim Ronalds

Irish Arts Review, May 2014
Strange, familiar and old by Kester Rattenbury (pdf) 
The building is handmade like an unbelievably complex Japanese puzzle - not one brick is cut.

Architects Journal, May 2014
Client of the Year - London School of Economics (pdf)
Nominated by AJ100 practices and assessed by an AJ editorial panel, this award is presented to the client that, in the panel's view, made the greatest contribution to UK architecture over the year.

Architects Journal, May 2014
RIBA Regional Awards: London by Laura Mark (pdf)
O'Donnell + Tuomey pips Zaha to land RIBA London best building.

Architects Journal, May 2014
Footprint: Green Sky Thinking event in SAW by Hattie Harman (pdf) 
Full transcript of the event (pdf)
The best green design marries passive principles with spatial quality and aesthetics.

NLA on Location, March 2014
Westminster on Location
SAW hosted this NLA 'on Location' event, which included a tour of the building.

Architects Journal, March 2014
Breakfast in SAW by Hattie Hartman (pdf)
Join the AJ for breakfast at O'Donnell + Tuomey's student centre at the LSE

New London Quarterly, Spring 2014
Putting down roots by Peter Murray (pdf)
O'Donnell + Tuomey's striking new student centre for the London School of Economics adds a new identity to the school's urban campus.

The Architectural Review, March 2014
Pattern Language by Kester Rattenbury (pdf)
Handmade bricks form a richly patterned screen that unites a complexity of functions in a new student centre for the London School of Economics.

The Sunday Times Culture Magazine, March 2014
Top of the form by Hugh Pearman (pdf)
Britain's universities are in a class of their own when it comes to progressive new buildings.

Architects Journal, February 2014
Footprint : Red brick university, by Joseph Rykwert (pdf)
At the LSE, O'Donnell + Tuomey has created imaginative, inviting and memorable architecture on an impossible site.

The Irish Times, February 2014
Building a profile: Irish architects making their mark on London, by Frank McDonald (pdf)
After their exceptional work at the London School of Economics, and the Photographers’ Gallery, O’Donnell and Tuomey should win more challenging commissions in the British capital.

Architecture Today, February 2014
O'Donnell & Tuomey's addition to the LSE honours people and place, by Ros Diamond (pdf)
ODT's visually striking and spatially rich Saw Swee Hock Student Centre at the London School of Economics validates the university's presence as a significant urban institution.

The Guardian, February 2014
A lesson in origami, by Oliver Wainwright (pdf)
In the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre, O'Donnell and Tuomey have produced a fold-out marvel that ducks and dodges between its neighbours' rights to light.

RIBA Journal, February 2014
Angles with poise, by Hugh Pearman
O’Donnell + Tuomey’s Student Centre for the LSE zig zags out of the ground – a dramatic, angular statement layered with intense detail.

Building Design, January 2014
Degrees of Certainty, by Ellis Woodman (pdf)
O’Donnell & Tuomey’s LSE student centre boldly introduces a faceted sculptural form into the dense urban grain of central London.