LSE_Public realm

Identifying opportunities for enhancement

As well as our Post Occupancy Evaluations of key LSE buildings, ZZA has done serial research on student experience of LSE’s campus. With our 2019 study evidencing a by-product of the School’s ambitious campus programme as accentuating the gap students perceive between new development and older elements of the estate, LSE Estates commissioned ZZA to undertake an evaluation aimed at addressing this.

Our review covered all campus buildings, their interface with external space. And every zone of outdoor  space, analysing conditions on the varied perimeter – Kingsway, Sardinia Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Aldwych, Strand, Clement’s Inn, Grange Court, Portugal Street, Serle Street – and penetrating inwards.

Undertaken as an expert survey, the work analysed the spaces according to systematic, explicit criteria drawn from ZZA’s evidence base on factors that influence user experience. Our output – ‘Levelling up old and newer campus space: Scope to enhance user experience’ – provided a ranked index of performance and a menu of opportunities to add value in use.

This fed into LSE’s Public Realm Strategy, which incorporates extensive sections of ZZA’s report.