It has been announced today that Ravensbourne College, a leading higher education college of design and communication, will relocate to Greenwich Peninsula. A planning application has been submitted and construction is expected to begin in 2008.

Ravensbourne College will be located on Peninsula Square, London’s newest public square, next to The o2 and forming part of Greenwich Peninsula’s 3.5m sq ft commercial district, Peninsula Central.

The new, iconic college building, designed by Foreign Office Architects, is expected to be completed in 2009 and will not only attract local employment during its construction but will also provide local employers with a ‘home-grown’ talent pool.

Rob Johnson, Joint Project Director, Greenwich Peninsula, said:

“This announcement marks another milestone in the development of Greenwich Peninsula. Ravensbourne College will bring great creative energy to the area.  The College is renowned for the quality and excellence of its courses and the students it attracts and we look forward to the college and the student community becoming part of Greenwich Peninsula.”

Professor Robin Baker OBE, Director, Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, said:

“Moving to Greenwich Peninsula is a great opportunity for us and marks the College’s exciting educational transformation.  Our iconic building and surroundings will provide an outstanding location for our students and staff and we look forward to integrating into the new community on the Peninsula.”

Philip Dibsdale, English Partnership’s Area Director for Greenwich said: 

“This is an incredibly important development for Greenwich Peninsula, providing an exemplar in high quality design and environmental performance.  It will bring economic and social vitality to the project.”

ENDS

For more media information and imagesm contact Marion Hardman or Oliver Williams on 0870444 4568 orgp@fourcommunications.com

Notes to Editors

About Greenwich Peninsula 
Over the next 15 years, the area will be transformed into a thriving new riverside community. The £5 billion regeneration of Greenwich Peninsula will see the creation of around 10,000 new homes in distinct residential neighbourhoods (including around 3800 affordable housing), 24,000 long-term job opportunities within a central business district as well as shops, schools, community facilities and landscaped open spaces. Pedestrians and cyclists will have priority over the car and a relaxing, safe environment will be promoted. 

This regeneration of 190 acres of Greenwich Peninsula is being led by Lend Lease and Quintain Estates and Development PLC, working together with English Partnerships.

About Lend Lease 
Founded in Australia in the 1950's and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, Lend Lease is a leading real estate specialist, which creates, enhances and manages real estate assets around the world. 
 
In the UK its business is focused primarily on the delivery of large scale, retail led, mixed use schemes which lead to the regeneration of town centre and major urban sites.

 Lend Lease provides cohesive in-house solutions for mixed-use developments, from planning and consultation, to development, funding, construction and asset management. In addition,Crosby Lend Lease, the group's residential development business can deliver affordable and private homes as part of integrated retail, commercial and residential developments.

About Quintain Estates and Development PLC
Quintain operates through three business segments - fund management, investment and urban regeneration. In addition to the Greenwich Peninsula development, Quintain has a c14m sq ft landbank of projects, of which c7m sq ft are consented. Quintain is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a FTSE 250 company.

About English Partnerships and the wider Peninsula
English Partnerships is the government’s national regeneration agency whose aim is to deliver high quality, sustainable growth in England. English Partnerships have played a leading role in the comprehensive regeneration of the Peninsula including the provision of infrastructure and open space, the delivery of community, retail and leisure facilities and the creation of Greenwich Millennium Village (GMV), a 2,950 community being developed to the south of Greenwich Peninsula.

Key Facts: Greenwich Peninsula

Within the next 15 years around 25,000 people will be living in Greenwich Peninsula and 24,000 people will work there. Key facts at a glance:

• 10,000 new homes with 3,800 for key workers and people on low incomes
• 24,000 jobs created, plus an additional 5,000 jobs in construction
  • A new business district for London - 3.5 million ft² of employment and office space - 343,600 m2
• 150 new shops and restaurants - 360,000 ft² of retail provision - 33,750 m2
• extensive community and leisure facilities
• all buildings in will be designed and built to the highest current environmental standards (ie.EcoHomes Excellent and BREEAM)
• it will be London’s first residential ‘Low Emissions Zone’, aimed at controlling car emissions (all private cars will need to be Euro-4 compliant by 2009)
• 48 acres of new and improved open spaces
• the same amount of riverfront as Waterloo to London Bridge - the largest of any single new development in London
• excellent transport links put residents and workers just one stop from Canary Wharf, four stops from London Bridge and is 20 minutes from the West End.

Key Facts: Ravensbourne College

• Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication is a University Sector College, validated by   the University of Sussex. It is currently based in Chislehurst, Kent.
• Ravensbourne specialises in the creative exploitation of digital technologies in design and communication within a lively interdisciplinary learning community. The College enjoys an excellent reputation, based on the quality of its learning and teaching, its excellent relationships with the creative industries and the calibre of its highly employable and award-winning students.
• Its community of approximately 1,400 students follow either pre-degree (Further Education), undergraduate or postgraduate (Higher Education) programmes, and are drawn from the UK, Europe and around ten percent from International (non-EU) destinations.
• Ravensbourne programmes span fashion; broadcasting; product, interior, graphic, moving image, interaction, media and sound design; animation and performance video.
• The design of the new Ravensbourne building is by Foreign Office Architects (architecture) and DEGW (internal space planning).
• For more information visit www.rave.ac.uk