GRAHAM has secured a major contract to carry out a notable refurbishment project at London Business School, underscoring the contractor’s growing presence in the UK education sector. Reported by Insider Media Ltd, the scheme will see extensive upgrades to the School’s facilities as it continues to invest in its central London estate. The project forms part of London Business School’s broader strategy to enhance its campus habitat, improve the student and staff experience, and support the institution’s long-term growth in a highly competitive global business education market.
Project scope and heritage considerations in the London Business School refurbishment
The refurbishment programme sees GRAHAM tasked with a carefully phased upgrade of teaching spaces, breakout areas and executive education facilities, all while maintaining day-to-day campus operations. Key interventions include modernising mechanical and electrical systems for improved energy performance, reconfiguring internal layouts to support hybrid learning, and enhancing wayfinding to cope with growing student and visitor numbers. To minimise disruption, works are being sequenced around term times and intensive study weeks, with decant strategies agreed in advance with faculty and estate managers.
Given the institution’s prominent setting in Marylebone and proximity to listed fabric, the scheme is being developed under a robust conservation framework that balances academic ambitions with statutory protections. Design teams and heritage consultants are collaborating closely with Westminster planners to safeguard original façades, period detailing and key sightlines, while subtly introducing contemporary finishes and digital infrastructure. This approach is underpinned by:
- Retention of character – preserving significant architectural features and structural grids.
- Reversible interventions – specifying fit-out elements that can be removed without harming historic fabric.
- Sensitive material choices – aligning new finishes with existing textures, tones and proportions.
- Enhanced public value – opening up circulation routes and ground-floor spaces to improve community engagement.
| Focus Area | Modern Upgrade | Heritage Response |
|---|---|---|
| Teaching Rooms | Hybrid tech and flexible layouts | Original ceilings and cornices retained |
| Circulation | Improved accessibility and flow | Staircase balustrades conserved |
| Building Services | Low-carbon heating and cooling | Plant hidden behind existing rooflines |
Sustainability targets procurement strategy and construction methodology for GRAHAM
GRAHAM is shaping the refurbishment around a low‑carbon brief, embedding whole‑life performance into every procurement decision and build sequence. Key packages are being let on a value‑driven, sustainability-first basis, favouring suppliers with transparent ESG reporting, circular-economy credentials and short, resilient supply chains to reduce transport emissions. Existing building fabric and high-quality fixtures will be retained wherever structurally viable, with project teams mandated to pursue repair, re-use and remanufacture ahead of replacement. This approach is underpinned by digital material passports,enabling London Business School to track embodied carbon and end-of-life options long after handover.
- Low‑carbon materials prioritised over conventional,high‑impact alternatives
- Local and regional supply base to cut logistics emissions and improve responsiveness
- Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and offsite fabrication to minimise waste
- Zero avoidable waste target,supported by on-site segregation and take‑back schemes
- Performance-led specifications to drive energy and water efficiency in operation
| Target Area | Key Goal |
|---|---|
| Embodied carbon | Maximise reuse of structure and finishes |
| Operational energy | Design for reduced heating and cooling demand |
| Waste | Divert >95% of site arisings from landfill |
| Transport | Prioritise low‑emission logistics and deliveries |
On site,construction methodology has been tailored to a busy academic setting,with phased works,quiet construction techniques and tightly managed deliveries to safeguard campus life and the surrounding community. GRAHAM is deploying hybrid and electric plant where feasible, leveraging real-time monitoring to cut idling, noise and dust, and using prefabricated elements to compress time spent on site. The contractor’s project team is also coordinating with London Business School’s estates and sustainability leads to align BREEAM and institutional carbon ambitions, ensuring that every trade package – from M&E to interiors – contributes measurably to the school’s long-term climate strategy.
Minimising operational disruption while upgrading teaching and executive education spaces
With London Business School’s lecture theatres, seminar rooms and executive education suites running to tightly choreographed timetables, GRAHAM’s programme has been shaped around the academic calendar rather than the other way round. Works are being sequenced in micro-phases, with noisy activities compressed into short, pre‑agreed windows and major interventions timed for evenings, weekends and vacation periods. A rolling decant strategy keeps core teaching capacity live at all times, while temporary wayfinding and alternative circulation routes maintain safe, intuitive movement through the campus.To support this, the contractor has established on-site “live environment” protocols, including:
- Real-time liaison with course administrators to adjust site activity around critical teaching events
- Acoustic controls and dust suppression to protect sensitive learning and exam conditions
- Just-in-time deliveries to limit vehicle movements during peak student and executive traffic
- Digital noticeboards and email bulletins giving staff and participants advance visibility of any short-term changes
| Measure | Timing | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Night shift fit-out | 22:00-06:00 | Teaching hours protected |
| Quiet zones | Exam and assessment weeks | Noise kept below target thresholds |
| Staggered handovers | Block-by-block | Spaces returned to service earlier |
This operational choreography is underpinned by extensive early engagement with faculty leads and executive education clients, ensuring that the refurbished environments reflect pedagogical priorities without derailing live programmes.GRAHAM’s project team has embedded itself within the school’s scheduling and IT support functions, allowing rapid coordination around AV upgrades, hybrid-learning pilots and furniture changes with minimal downtime. The result is an evolving campus where:
- Teaching continuity is preserved even as rooms are stripped back to shell-and-core and rebuilt
- Executive cohorts experience an uninterrupted premium environment, with works kept out of sight and sound
- Staff planning is simplified by clear, data-driven forecasts of when each space will move through refurbishment
- Student feedback can be quickly looped into subsequent phases, refining layouts and technology in near real time
Implications for the wider London education estate and recommendations for future campus refurbishments
The transformation of London Business School’s campus sets a new benchmark for how educational institutions across the capital might respond to pressures around sustainability, digital readiness and flexible learning. As GRAHAM rolls out a refurbishment programme centred on low-carbon materials,adaptive teaching spaces and smarter building management systems,other universities and colleges are likely to reassess legacy estates that are energy-intensive and pedagogically outdated. The project demonstrates how targeted investment in existing stock-rather than wholesale new-build schemes-can unlock value, minimise disruption to students and make tangible progress towards London-wide net zero targets.
For future campus refurbishments across the London education estate, estate directors and capital projects teams may wish to focus on a series of practical priorities designed to align with funding constraints, planning sensitivities and evolving student expectations:
- Prioritise retrofit over rebuild to protect heritage assets and shorten delivery programmes.
- Design for blended learning with AV-rich, reconfigurable spaces that can pivot between in-person and remote teaching.
- Embed wellbeing and inclusivity through daylight optimisation,acoustic comfort and accessible circulation routes.
- Leverage data-driven facilities management to cut operational costs and improve space utilisation.
- Procure on long-term partnerships with contractors that can support phased upgrades across multi-site estates.
| Focus Area | Key Outcome |
|---|---|
| Low-Carbon Retrofit | Reduced energy bills & emissions |
| Flexible Teaching Space | Future-proofed learning delivery |
| Smart Building Systems | Real-time performance insights |
| Student-Centric Design | Improved satisfaction & retention |
Concluding Remarks
As work progresses on the London Business School refurbishment, GRAHAM’s appointment underscores both the scale of the project and the confidence placed in the contractor’s track record on complex, high-profile schemes.
The redevelopment is expected not only to modernise teaching and research facilities, but also to enhance the school’s ability to compete globally for students, staff and investment. With construction now moving forward, attention will turn to how successfully the project can balance heritage, sustainability and the demands of a rapidly evolving business education environment.
