The Learning Resources Centre at 105 Borough Road was built as centre for the University's computing and electronic resources and also to house the language centre. Work began on 17th July 1995 and was officially opened on 19 September 1996 by Lord Sheppard of Didgemere.
South Bank Techopark at 90 London Road, Southwark was conceived, named and completed due to the former Director of South Bank Polytechnic (now LSBU), Dr John Beishon. It was the first technology centre of its kind to be developed by a Polytechnic and was funded by the private sector. Original finance came from the Sainsbury Foundation and Department of Trade & Industry in 1980 and later was financed by the Prudential Assurance Company to the sum of £7 million. Work began in the early 1980s and the Mayor and Mayoress of Southwark were invited to bury a time capsule to mark the beginning of work.
The first phase was opened 9 December 1985 by Geoffrey Pattie M.P. Minister of State for Industry & Information Technology. South Bank Technopark Phase II was opened 30th September 1987 by the Rt Hon Lord Young of Gaffham, Secretary of State for Trade & Industry. The building is still in use by London South Bank University and an Admissions & Recruitment Centre was opened in it on 4 October 2007 by Lord David Triesman of Tottenham, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Intellectual Property & Quality.
Obelisk Dairy was founded in 1810 at 119 Borough Road near to St. Georges Circus and obelisk. The building has been disused for many years and forms part of London South Bank University's estates.
The Keyworth Centre was officially opened on 11 December 2003 by the Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP. As well as facilities for conferences and small events the Centre originally provided teaching space for the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences and was a centre of excellence for the university's media courses.
Diary House at 77-79 Borough Road, Southwark was a former printing works from the 1860s and 1930s and housed Letts printers. In 1991 South Bank Polytechnic leased the building for the newly incorporated South West London College. The building no longer forms part of the University's estates.
The Keyworth II or K2 building opened in 2009 and was designed by Grimshaw Architects. It housed the Faculty of Health and Social Care, the Department for Education, parts of the Department for Sport and Exercise Science and the Centre for Efficient and Renewable Energy in Buildings (CEREB). At the start of construction in 2007 a time capsule was buried on site including a local newspaper, coins dated 2007 and photographs and other materials from the faculties and departments which moved into K2.
Whipps Cross campus was established in 2001, along with Havering Campus, after South Bank University merged with the Redwood College of Health Studies. The campus closed in 2011.
The University's Passmore Centre building was designed by CJ Phipps and Arthur Blomfield Jackson and opened as a public library in 1899. It was original called the Passmore Edwards Library, having been paid for by John Passmore Edwards, a Victorian philanthropist. It was later known as the St. George the Martyr Library and after it became part of Southwark Council's network of libraries it was called the Borough Road Library. It was purchased by South Bank University and converted to a nursery in September 1993. The nursery closed in 2011. The Passmore Centre opened as a business skills and training hub designed to provide access for local people and businesses to high quality apprenticeships and other forms of employer-supported study on 28 November 2018.
The building is Grade II listed (building No. 470670, listed 17 September 1998 - Listing NGR: TQ3173879494) and constructed of red brick and terracotta with a pitched, tiled roof in the Art Nouveau style.
Havering campus was established in 2001, along with Whipps Cross Campus, after South Bank University merged with the Redwood College of Health Studies. It is on the site of the former Harold Wood Hospital which was founded in 1909 as a convalescence home for children. The campus is used by the School of Health and Social Care.
The buildings at 113-119 Borough Road and 123-132 London Road were commonly known as the Terraces and were built c.1820. The University purchased the buildings along with the former Duke of Clarence pub at 132 London Road in 1997. These buildings were given Grade II listed status in 2000. In 2011 work began on redeveloping the Terraces and pub, with work being done by the Rivington Street Studio (Hawkins/Brown). The buildings reopened as the Clarence Centre for Enterprise and Innovation in Autumn 2013. Awards for the building include: Winner of the RICS 2015 Award for Regeneration, Civic Trust Commendation 2014, New London Awards 2014 Commendation, Highly Commended for the AJ Retrofit Awards 2014, Shortlisted for the RIBA Awards 2014.
The Centre provides office space to small business alongside retail space, event and exhibition space and meeting rooms. The Centre is also home to the University's Enterprise team.
On 20th February 1930 the Duke of York (the future George VI) visited the Borough Polytechnic Institute to official open new buildings within Borough Road Building and unveil its new facade.
As part of the Duke of York's official opening of the remodelled Borough Road building he toured the classrooms and laboratories of the Polytechnic. The girls Trade Cookery School made a Geonese layer cake for his daughter Elizabeth in the shape of a doll. The crinoline part of the cake was composed of over 2000 iced rose petals and the cake was presented by Miss Patricia Symonds, aged 15.
South Bank Polytechnic celebrated its centenary with a year's worth of celebrations, beginning with the Director, Pauline Perry releasing balloons from the Tower Restaurant. Other events included a service of thanksgiving, a special lunch at the Guildhall in London and dinner dance in Edric Hall.
The Centenary Lunch was held at the Guildhall, London and was hosted by the Vice Chancellor, Pauline Perry and the Liverymen of the Worshipful Company of Bakers. A recipe book, "The Lightest Chocolate Mousse in the World" was put together by the National Bakery School as part of the celebrations.
The memorial commemorates the 127 men from the Borough Polytechnic Institute who lost their lives during the First World War. Staff, students and relatives paid for the memorial, which was dedicated in 1921 by the Bishop of Southwark, who hoped it would, 'help to weave into the lives of others who study here and who come within this hall the memory and the example of those who died... [and make] successive generations feel that they are becoming members of a corporate society, of real fellowship.'
The Polytechnic's student common room (today's digital gallery) was the memorials first home, but when the room was converted into a telephone exchange in the 1960s, the memorial was placed into storage. Rediscovered in 1996, the University restored and re-erected the memorial in the Edric Hall. The hall's refurbishment in 2004 meant the memorial was once again put into storage.
Over the Easter holiday of 2010, the Estates & Facilities Department, in consultation with the Chaplain and University Archivist, arranged for the memorial to be assembled in its current location which provides the memorial with a permanent home as close as possible to its original location and allows room for public commemoration.
The Nathu Puri Institute, based in the university's Faculty of Engineering, Science and The Built Environment was established in order to foster enterprise amongst engineers and support the UK engineering industry.
In 2007 London South Bank University gained funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to establish the Employer Engagement Unit, which was intended to extend existing employer engagement activities at the University and develop the business services and support the University provides to a wide range of organisations.
The 2011 Mayor of Southwark's Discretionary Award was awarded to the university's Community Engagement Team for its work in helping to bring students from the local area into higher education.
The Borough Gallery was established with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to exhibit A David Bomberg Legacy - The Sarah Rose Collection, a collection of paintings and drawings by the artist David Bomberg and members of the Borough Group. The collection was built up over thirty years by Sarah Rose and includes over 150 works spanning a period of nearly 100 years. The Gallery is dedicated to exhibiting work from the collection and to carrying out a related programme of exhibitions, events and education activities.
The official opening event included speeches by the guest of honour Alan Yentob, Creative Director at the BBC as well as Wesley Kerr, Chair of the London Committee, Heritage Lottery Fund and Sarah Rose. Special guests included Cliff Holden and Dennis Creffield who were members of the Borough Group.
The nation's first National Diary Week took place the week beginning 20th May 2013 as a way of encouraging people to put pen to paper and celebrate the personal diary. London South Bank University participated by placing the UK's largest diary in the Student Centre foyer and encouraging staff and students to record a snapshot of their day in it.
The Student Centre was developed as a home for the University's non-academic student support services as well as the Students' Union. It was built in 2012 and opened to staff and students in November that year, though it was officially opened on 20 June 2013 by the University's Chancellor, Richard Farleigh. Guests at the opening ceremony included Simon Hughes MP, representatives from Hawkins\Brown, the building's architects, business partners from the Southwark community and University staff. The ceremony consisted of speeches by the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and Students' Union President along with a barbeque and student displays.