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.
Caxton House at 13-16 Borough Road was built in the 1920s for printing union NATSOPA by E J Williams Architects of Leicester and later used by SOGAT 81. The building was purchased by South Bank Polytechnic in 1988 to house students and staff from Rachel McMillan College. In 1992 it housed the Administration Department of the Polytechnic, including the Vice-Chancellor and later housed the University's staff from the Centre for Learning Support & Development, including the Careers Centre. It currently houses staff from the Confucius Institute, following a 2015 refurbishment carried out by Rivington Street Studio.
Professor David Cannadine was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters in November 2001.
Cadogan Court was a halls of residence for the Battersea Training College, located at 37 Queens Gate Gardens, Kensington.
Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (2010-2015)
Rt. Rev Dr Tom Butler was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters of the University in 2005. He was the ninth Anglican Bishop of Southwark from 1998-2010.
The London County Council School of Building was opened on 26th February 1904 with Mr H W Richards as Principal to provide a specialist training college for the large number of building workers in Camberwell and Lambeth. The Lambeth Polytechnic building in Ferndale Road, Brixton was renovated to contain workshops for painting and decorating, carpentry and joinery and a drawing office. When it first opened, 643 students enrolled on classes covering stone carving, plasterers' modelling, drawing, chemistry and physics of building materials, land surveying and levelling. The School soon gained a world-wide reputation as a centre of excellence in the fields of town planning, building technology, estate management and building architecture.
In 1906 a school of architecture was added which was organised by Professor Beresford Pite of the Royal Academy of Art. Demand for courses increased rapidly so that in 1908 the School added a Junior Day Technical College for Boys and then a Senior Day Technical School as well as a new extension in 1909. In 1910 five-year courses were introduced in all trade subjects, followed in 1911 by a four year course in reinforced concrete and in 1912 a course in structural engineering all examined by the City and Guilds of London Institute. In 1921 Mr A R Sage became Principal (the Sage Medallion was in the possession of the former Vauxhall College). In 1922, Sir Robert Blair (LCC Education Officer) wrote, 'the Brixton School is easily the first and most complete school of building in the world'. In 1927 until 1943 Mr F E Drury became Principal. The Board of Education classified the School as a College of Further Education in 1928 and the following year a three year day course was introduced leading to the Ordinary and Higher National Diploma in Building or the Intermediate Examination of the Royal Institute of British Architects or the Chartered Surveyors Institute.
In 1943 it became the Brixton School of Building, in March 1945 Mr D A G Reid CBE became Principal and after the Second World War the School rapidly expanded so that by 1949 the number of full time students exceeded 400, studying courses in architecture, surveying and structural engineering. In 1956 Brixton was designated a regional college, and the governors decided not to concentrate on work at higher levels, but to retain its craft work and lower level teaching. Under the government's policy for higher education, given in the White Paper 'A Plan for Polytechnics and Other Colleges', published in 1966, the higher level studies at Brixton would have to be continued within a new institution based on the polytechnic model. Brixton School of Building became part of the Polytechnic of the South Bank in 1970, along with the Borough Polytechnic, City of Westminster College and the National College for Heating, Ventilating, Refrigeration and Fan Engineering. The last Principal wrote, '1970 marked the end of the beginning; the School of Building had faithfully served many days and generations of students but to the work it was doing there is no end'.
Five of the six departments from Brixton became the new Polytechnic's Faculty of Construction, Technology and Design. The sixth department, along with some work from other departments formed the Vauxhall College of Further Education. The Faculty moved into the new purpose-designed Wandsworth Road building, on the Wandsworth Road, during the summer of 1973, a decade after the first draft schedule of accommodation was made. The building was officially opened on 17 April 1975 by Anthony Crosland MP. The Faculty became the largest and most comprehensive Built Environment faculty in Europe covering subjects such as Property Development, Waste Management and Architecture. In the summer of 2003 the Wandsworth Road building was sold by London South Bank University and students and staff transferred back to the University's main Southwark campus to form the Faculty of Engineering, Science and the Built Environment.
Originally at 54-56 Brixton Hill, the School evacuated to Reading in 1939 but numbers fell and the school returned to London in 1940. Unable to return to their original building, the School moved to the Brixton Commercial Institute on Southey Street.
Brixton College opened at 56 Brixton Hill in 1959 and closed in 1992. It also held courses at various annexes across the borough. In the beginning the college was founded to ‘continue and extend the education of those who have passed the age of compulsory full-time education, to help those who are already employed to qualify themselves for advancement in their vocations and for the wider responsibilities of adult citizenship, and to give vocational training to those who have not entered employment,’ (Brixton College for Further Education prospectus 1965-1965).
In 1992 Brixton College merged with Vauxhall College and South London College to become Lambeth College.
The British Youth Opera (BYO) was established in 1987 by Denis Coe, to provide additional training and performance opportunities for outstanding young musicians and experience to young stage, design and costume staff. Company members aged 22-30 years are recruited nationally each year for a Summer Season which features two major operas performed at Sadler's Wells, London and in at least one other major city. The Company also appears in concerts, galas and other musical events throughout the year. Many former members of BYO are now principals with major opera companies in the UK and abroad. The BYO's rehearsal facilities are based at London South Bank University, formerly South Bank University.