Imperial College Halls of Residence

The college's oldest student accommodation, Beit Hall

Imperial College London's main student accommodation comprises six first-year undergraduate halls of residence around West London, primarily South Kensington and North Acton.[1][2] Accommodation in these halls is generally for first-year undergraduates only,[2] although some students may return as "hall seniors" with operational responsibilities[3] and there are three halls available for continuing students.[4] Halls are run by wardens (and, in some halls, assistant wardens) who are members of staff, along with sub-wardens who are PhD students. Silwood Park halls are postgraduate, but only cater for students studying on the Silwood Park postgraduate site in Berkshire.[5]

The college has enacted a policy in recent years of moving accommodation provision from central London to North Acton.[6][7][8] All halls are self-catered.[9]

Eastside and Southside halls surround Prince's Garden

South Kensington

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Imperial's primary and traditional halls, with room for around 1,200 students, are located on its South Kensington campus. Beit Hall opened as the first hall of residence in 1926, funded by its namesake: Alfred Beit. It is located next to Imperial College Union around the Beit Quadrangle. This was followed by the Prince's Gardens halls, the first of which, Falmouth, Keogh, Selkirk, and Tizard, opened in 1963, and formed Southside Halls. Linstead Hall and the first sport centre followed in 1968. The original Southside and Weeks Halls were Grade II listed in 1993.[10][11] In 2005 the Prince's Gardens halls were demolished, with the sports centre reopening as Ethos gym in 2006, and Southside Halls reopening in 2007.[12][13] Weeks hall is no longer used as a hall of residence, but remains as a college building.[6]

  • Beit Hall, 339 bed spaces[14]
  • Eastside, 454 bed spaces[15]
    • Linstead Hall
    • Gabor Hall
    • Wilkinson Hall
  • Southside, 405 bed spaces[16]
    • Falmouth Hall
    • Selkirk Hall
    • Tizard Hall
    • Keogh Hall

North Acton

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The Kemp Porter Buildings are the college's newest halls

The North Acton halls, with room for around 1,400 students, are located away from Imperial's main South Kensington campus. The first buildings to open on the site was the Woodward Buildings, which opened in 2015 and have a rooftop garden.[17] This was followed by the 31-storey Kemp Porter Buildings, which topped out in 2019.[18] There have been local complaints about the appearance of the Woodward Buildings, as well as student complaints about the relocation of accommodation space to Acton.[8][19] Kemp Porter has 708 bed spaces in around 600 rooms,[20] while Woodward holds 689 students.[21]

Wilson House

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Wilson House, Paddington

Wilson House is located near to Edgware Road and Paddington tube stations. It consists of 22 connected Victorian houses with a purpose-build block located behind these, holding 382 students in total.[22] Wilson House is a Grade-II listed building.[23]

Continuing students

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Accommodation for around 470 continuing undergraduate students is available in:[4]

  • Evelyn Gardens, Chelsea, 256 bed spaces[24]
  • Parsons House, West Kensington, 46 bed spaces[25]
  • Xenia, near Southbank and Waterloo Station, 166 bed spaces[26]

Silwood Park

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The postgraduate-only accommodation at Silwood Park consists of five halls with room for a total of 86 students:[5]

  • Silwood Park
    • Brian Flowers
    • John Smith
    • Southwood
    • William Penney
    • Mary Flowers

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Undergraduate halls". Imperial. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Accommodation Guide". Imperial College. 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  3. ^ "In your halls". imperial.ac.uk. Imperial College London. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Continuing students". Imperial. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Silwood Park (not based in London)". Imperial. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Weeks to Remain Closed Despite Student Protests". Felix. 30 April 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Imperial College Plans Second Acton Hall". The Construction Index. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Responses to #AgainstActon Campaign" (PDF). Imperial College Union. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Accommodation". imperial.ac.uk. Imperial College London. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Weeks Hall, Imperial College, City of Westminster". Historic England. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Southside Halls, Imperial College, City of Westminster". Historic England. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  12. ^ Gay, Hannah (2007). The History of Imperial College London, 1907-2007. Imperial College Press. pp. 76, 759. ISBN 9781860947087.
  13. ^ "A timeline of College developments". imperial.ac.uk. Imperial College London. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  14. ^ "Beil Hall". Imperial. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  15. ^ "Eastside Halls". Imperial. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  16. ^ "Southside Halls". Imperial. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  17. ^ "Imperial opens student digs 'skyscraper' with rooftop garden, gym and all-day brasserie". Evening Standard.
  18. ^ "Topping out ceremony marks milestone for construction of Kemp Porter Building". 22 October 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  19. ^ "London's Walkie Talkie crowned UK's ugliest building". ITV News. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  20. ^ "Kemp Porter Buildings". Imperial. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  21. ^ "Woodward Buildings". Imperial. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  22. ^ "Wilson House". Imperial. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  23. ^ Historic England. "Wilson House (Grade II) (1264106)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  24. ^ "Evelyn Gardens". Imperial. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  25. ^ "Parsons House". Imperial. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  26. ^ "Xenia". Imperial. Retrieved 19 September 2024.

51°30′1″N 0°10′40″W / 51.50028°N 0.17778°W / 51.50028; -0.17778