The building will be part of the school campus located in Oldwich (Westminster area): this complex is not separated from the surrounding buildings and is a natural continuation of it. The new building will house a student union reception room, a café, event spaces, a media center and offices. According to the management of the London School of Economics, the winning project is “delicate, erudite and charming”, and therefore became an ideal answer to the task defined by the university. Initially, the organizers wanted a “showcase of modern architecture,” as the student center will be the first new facility on the Oldwich campus in 40 years and must match both its architectural environment and customer status.
At the same time, the O'Donnell & Toomey project is one of the most restrained of the works that reached the final of the competition. They were presented to the public in May, along with the list of finalists, but it was not specified who the author of each of the projects was. It should be noted that the audience's (reader's) sympathy prize went to the winners of the competition in conditions of anonymity: their project received the most votes from readers of The Architects ’Journal even before the official results were announced.
Finalists also included Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, de Rijke Marsh Morgan, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, 3XN and David Chipperfield's workshop.
