TEDI-London, a new engineering higher education enterprise, co-founded by three global universities: King’s College London, Arizona State University and UNSW Sydney, has opened at British Land’s Canada Water development, welcoming its first cohort of full-time students to its campus this week.

The modular campus took just under nine months from signing the agreement for the lease to TEDI-London taking occupation. Built in the UK, the building itself took just six weeks to construct once the modular components had arrived on the site, minimising disruption to the local area.

Designed by internationally renowned architect Hawkins Brown, each module uses lightweight steel frame boxes clad with insulation and requires no deep piles or concrete. At the end of its life, the building can be reused on-site, relocated in its entirety or stripped and the materials recycled, contributing to the circular economy.

Roger Madelin, Joint Head of Canada Water Development at British Land, said: “Modular construction techniques are fairly well established in the residential sector but for commercial purposes this method of construction is still relatively rare. In the current environment where some businesses are working through their space requirements, this type of modular solution provides a fantastic opportunity for customers to take space quickly, cheaply and sustainably, and allows them to grow with us into more permanent space in the future.”

TEDI-London has taken an initial c. 15,000 sq ft of floorspace, including classrooms, breakout spaces and labs, with the option to expand up to 40,000 sq ft, which British Land will deliver in phases as the organisation grows. In the long term, British Land will work with TEDI-London to deliver a permanent home for its students within the Canada Water Masterplan.

Judy Raper, TEDI-London Dean and CEO, said: “We’re delighted to be setting up home in one of London’s most exciting and upcoming areas. British Land’s vision for Canada Water is a fantastic opportunity for TEDI-London and our staff and students to be part of a progressive, green, sustainable new urban space. Our students will be able to work on projects connected to, and for the benefit of, their local community, something which was a highly attractive proposition for us when choosing the location for our campus.”

TEDI-London has been set up with the aim of transforming engineering higher education, including diversifying the range of people studying and entering the profession. The programme offers a Bachelor or integrated Master of Global Design Engineering. Students will cover a broad range of engineering topics – civil, mechanical, electrical, electronic, environmental – to equip them with the skills they will need for successful careers in engineering. Scholarships are offered for eligible Southwark residents and there will be a bursary scheme to support students from lower income households. TEDI-London will also run a programme of local outreach opportunities.

For more information, visit the TEDI website: https://tedi-london.ac.uk/

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About British Land

Our portfolio of high-quality UK commercial property is focused on London Campuses and Retail & Fulfilment assets throughout the UK. We own or manage a portfolio valued at £12.7bn (British Land share: £9.1bn) as at 31 March 2021 making us one of Europe’s largest listed real estate investment companies.

We create Places People Prefer, delivering the best, most sustainable places for our customers and communities. Our strategy is to leverage our best-in-class platform and proven expertise in development, repositioning and active management, investing behind two key themes: Campuses and Retail & Fulfilment.

Our three Campuses at Broadgate, Paddington Central and Regent’s Place are dynamic neighbourhoods, attracting growth customers and sectors, and offering some of the best connected, highest quality and most sustainable space in London. We are delivering our fourth campus at Canada Water, where we have planning consent to deliver 5 million sq ft of residential, commercial, retail and community space over 53 acres. Our campuses account for 70% of our portfolio.

Retail & Fulfilment accounts for 25% of the portfolio and is focused on retail parks which are aligned to the growth of convenience, online and last mile fulfilment. We are complementing this with urban logistics primarily in London, focused on development-led opportunities.

Sustainability is embedded throughout our business. In 2020, we set out our sustainability strategy which focuses on two time-critical areas where British Land can create the most benefit: making our whole portfolio net zero carbon by 2030, and partnering to grow social value and wellbeing in the communities where we operate.

Further details can be found on the British Land website at www.britishland.com.

About the Canada Water Masterplan

The Canada Water Masterplan is a partnership between British Land and Southwark Council to create a new town centre for London.

The Masterplan is a 53-acre, mixed-use scheme that will deliver around two million sq ft of workspace to accommodate approximately 20,000 jobs, around one million sq ft of retail, leisure, entertainment, education and community space, and around 3,000 new homes, of which 35% will be affordable.

With wellbeing embedded into the masterplan, and buildings to support low carbon living, the project will also create 12 acres of new open space, including a 3.5-acre park, a new Town Square, the first new high street in London for 100 years and 16 new streets.

The Masterplan was granted permission in late 2019.