University Square

Educational excellence in the east of London

Education, further, higher and adult, is absolutely central to Newham Council’s and Stratford’s regeneration plans, which will be realised in the new £33m University Square, Stratford - due to open in autumn 2013.

Birkbeck, University of London, the University of East London (UEL) and Newham Sixth Form College (NewVic) have joined together in a progressive partnership to create a major teaching and learning hub to meet the growing academic aspirations of people in east London and beyond.

The five-storey, 8,600 sq m building in the heart of the cultural quarter, has been designed by one of London’s most exciting young architectural practices, Make. The project is supported by the London Borough of Newham, London Thames Gateway Development Corporation and the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

The new education hub will house dedicated spaces for flexible full-time, part-time and evening study for 3,400 students from Birkbeck, UEL and NewVic in subjects including law, social sciences, accounting, digital media, community development, history and the performing arts.  It will draw on existing departments in all three institutions. 

University Square will enable the two universities and NewVic to foster further links with the cultural community in the area, such as Stratford Circus and the Theatre Royal. It will also be available to local community, business and arts groups.

The building’s design is as progressive as the educational opportunities on offer: large areas of glass, photovoltaic panels, a green roof, and an expansive ’learning garden’ on a car-free, landscaped site.

This striking piece of civic architecture will be a further dramatic addition to the area, in line with the great buildings from Stratford’s past, and the innovative, contemporary structures which are turning east London into the UK’s prime centre for architectural innovation.