In an all-staff briefing sent from the Rector last Friday, it was announced that it was likely parts of the Chemistry Department will be moved from the Chemistry Building, potentially to Imperial West.

The College’s master-planners have appraised Imperial’s entire estate and have identified some buildings in South Kensington that don’t live up to the College’s vision of being a ‘truly world-leading institution’. This comes with several challenges as to bring these buildings up to standard, an extreme refurbishment would be needed and, due to space limitations in South Kensington, there would be nowhere to move the core academic functions of these buildings while the refurbishments take place. Detailed assessment of the layout of certain buildings in South Kensington has shown that permanent relocation of some of their activities will be required and the most likely destination is the Imperial West Campus.

Due to the Chemistry Department’s intensive laboratory usage and requirements, the College Cabinet have decided this is the highest priority.

College have identified the next step in this process is to carry out a detailed feasibility study to see how teaching can be balanced between the two campuses. They plan to engage with Faculties and Departments to ensure this process goes smoothly and ICU are reactivating the master-planning student panel to ensure that there is student input into this process – we will keep you updated of any future developments.