The Bridge at White City Campus

In 2023, Imperial College launched a competition for an architect-led team to design buildings and public realm beneath Westway, an elevated motorway separating the north and south of its White City Campus. The brief was to unlock this difficult site and transform it into a place that supports learning, exchange and connection, while addressing the physical and social barrier created by the infrastructure above.

We titled our response The Bridge to reflect a broader ambition. Beyond linking the campus physically, the project is conceived to bridge different communities and disciplines – between schools and further education, academics and the local community, and academia and industry. The architecture needed to express the gravitas of a global top-ten university while remaining open, inclusive and approachable.

The proposals introduce two new buildings beneath the motorway, arranged around a shared landscaped space that forms a lively, sheltered heart. Calm, ordered elevations establish clarity and presence, while entrances on all sides maximise permeability and accessibility, ensuring the site can be approached from multiple directions and read as part of everyday campus life.

Structural stone is proposed as the primary construction material – a historic technique chosen for its durability, gravitas and exceptionally low embodied carbon. The two buildings, H1 and H2, have distinct but complementary roles. H1 is conceived as a contemporary market hall with three serveries for rotating food vendors, while H2 focuses on learning, housing lecture halls, bookable meeting rooms and a communal space with bleacher seating. Together, they create a flexible civic setting beneath the infrastructure, supporting learning, socialising and public life.