30th March 2026
Opening times: 4pm onwards
Summary
This reference visit will provide an opportunity to review the background to the original project, its objectives and its design – innovative at the time – and through the lens of a recent refurbishment project, review lessons for the future design of such scientific buildings in a changing world.
What to expect
The 1990’s was a time of great change in universities and their estates, including the opportunity for polytechnics to become universities and the medical mergers in London. The resultant expansion and change to university estates followed on from a period of relatively low capital investment and provided an opportunity to consider how to design differently for the future. It was in that same decade that the University Design Forum (then HEDQF) was born, which was celebrated in December 2025 in the Beit Quadrangle at Imperial College, London. The Sir Alexander Building, Imperial College, designed by Foster and Partners and opened in October 1996, was one of those new buildings. It brought together two projects into one - new facilities for the School of Medicine on the South Kensington Campus, and a new building for Biology, relocated from the Beit Quadrangle.
The event is hosted and supported by Imperial College London, Fosters and Walter Lily.
Further information is available here
