One of London’s leading universities has taken the next step in its bid for a new town centre campus in Croydon for students of health and social care, business and finance.
This week a planning application has been submitted to turn an empty Wellesley Road building into a new London South Bank University (LSBU) campus offering courses including degrees in nursing, accounting, business management and a Masters for chiropractors.
The move follows a partnership agreed in 2019 between the university and the council as the first step towards a new Croydon Creative Campus offering a mix of business, culture and learning to boost the borough’s regeneration and career prospects for Croydon’s 93,000 people under 18.
The university proposes to convert the four-storey Electric House to include a lecture theatre, classrooms and a café. For nursing students, the building would also include nursing skills suites that replicate hospital wards.
“This council has a vision to deliver a Croydon Creative Campus, which would bring economic growth and more jobs while giving top-class university education opportunities through LSBU to all of our residents, including London’s largest population of young people.
“These plans represent another welcome step towards this goal, and it demonstrates that confidence in Croydon and our future remains high despite the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic across the country.”
Councillor Tony Newman, leader of the council
LSBU has also applied for listed building consent for the Grade II-listed office building, which was constructed as an electricity showroom between 1939 and 1942 and still has original features including marble floors. It has been vacant since the Home Office moved out in 2013.
Croydon Council’s cross-party planning committee will consider both applications at a meeting later this year. If the plans are approved, LSBU would start courses from September 2021.
LSBU’s business incubation facility houses 90 businesses and is ranked among the top 15 university-run incubators in the world, while its employer-supported learning framework has made it a leading UK university for graduate employment.
