Department of Art Relocation

PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE EXISTING CENTRAL KITCHEN BUILDING ON WHITEKNIGHTS CAMPUS TO ACCOMMODATE A NEW SCHOOL OF ART.

Consultation period: Thursday 3rd February to Friday 18th February 2022

Thank you for taking the time to find out more about our proposals to refurbish and extend the existing but redundant Central Kitchen Building for the re-location of the School of Art on the University’s Whiteknights Campus.

The Reading School of Art (or RSA) is a department which forms part of the Arts and Communication Design at the University and it is ranked in the top 10 in the UK for Art and Design (Complete University Guide 2022), alongside the departments of Film, Theatre and Television (FTT) and Typography and Graphic communication (TGC), which has a strong reputation for innovation in combing practice, theory and history in research, teaching and enterprise.

The existing School of Art is located within the eastern part (near the Earley Gate access) of the University’s Whiteknights Campus. As part of the future proposals at the campus, it is planned to demolish the existing School of Art building and re-locate it to the current unoccupied Central Kitchen building. The proposal would see the Central Kitchen building refurbished and extended to house the new School of Art, with the extension located on the existing hardstanding forecourt area to the east of the existing building. The refurbishment and extension will provide workshops, studio and gallery space as well as a staff & student welfare area, shop and visitor space.

In addition, internal space within the Poly Vacher building (located to the north of the Central Kitchen building) will be refurbished to allow office space in connection within the School of Art. The existing Car Park 11 will be utilised in connection with these proposals.

Proposed Ground Floor Layout

North Elevation

West Elevation

South Elevation

East Elevation

 North West Corner from Carter Drive

Unfortunately due to the steep rise in COIVD-19 cases due to the Omicron variant - both nationally and in Reading – we have taken the decision to hold the consultation digitally via this website. We feel this is the best approach in order to keep members of the public, staff, students and the project team safe. Please do take time to watch and listen to our presentation which gives you lots of details about our proposals and help to answer any questions you may have.

HAVE YOUR SAY

Our pre-application consultation has now closed. Thank you to everyone who submitted comments to us. All the comments we received are being carefully considered before the submission of the planning application to Reading Borough Council.

We were asked a few questions during our consultation and these questions and our responses will be posted on this website in the next few days.