Lincoln’s inn Fields has a unique status in the City of London. This site is situated on the ‘shoreline’ between dense city fabric and the open landscape of the fields. The building form embraces both, proposing a generous un-programmed space at ground floor level that lets the life of the campus flow into this world, offering a release from the tight weave of the adjoining streets. On the other, four different worlds are stacked vertically, rising from below ground to the sky. The world of sport, civic space, teaching, research, are all volumetrically and structurally interwoven. This is a microcosm of the city, with a multiplicity of uses forming a rich and nourishing environment for university life. The building houses lecture theaters, informal study spaces, academic offices, music rehearsal and arts facilities, squash courts, and a 20mx35m sports hall. To accommodate this range of uses, a rotating structure was developed to creatively address the need to transfer from the smaller spans at the upper levels, to the ever increasing spans required at the ground and lower ground levels. This led to a weave of ‘tree-like’ columns and beams which direct the forces of gravity to the ground and take zenithal and horizontal light into the building. 

The Guardian: ‘A vortex of thinking’ – inside the LSE’s brawny, brainy new building