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Press release

Let the countdown begin

18 March 2008

Ravensbourne College takes the first step on the road to its new home at
Greenwich Peninsula.

Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication today hosted an event at The O2 to


mark the beginning of the construction of the College’s outstanding new building at
Greenwich Peninsula. Designed by Foreign Office Architects, the new College is set to
become a landmark building on Peninsula Square.

Ravensbourne College will be at the heart of the £5 billion regeneration at Greenwich


Peninsula, where 10,000 homes, shops, pubs, restaurants, cinemas, open spaces, public
parks, schools, health and childcare are being created in a joint venture between Quintain
Estates and Development plc and Lend Lease, working with English Partnerships.

Construction work starts in earnest next month with a completion date of early 2010.
Ravensbourne will be fully operational in its new home for the start of the 2010/2011
academic year.

The College’s interior will feature a layout and series of work spaces that deliberately
simulate the environment and working practices experienced in industry, with a greater
emphasis on shared space and facilities and on student collaboration. This reflects
Ravensbourne’s commitment to treating its students as practitioners at the beginning of
their careers.
Enterprise and innovation is at the heart of Ravensbourne and its new building will
incorporate a central enterprise hub offering students, staff, graduates, alumni and
businesses access to the College’s leading edge facilities and creative talent pool.
Ravensbourne will be a pioneering destination for students and a place that will make a
major contribution to the development of the digital age.

Central to Ravensbourne’s educational philosophy is its determination to attract and


educate students from a diversity of backgrounds. The College’s relocation to Greenwich
will provide a catalyst for developing local skills through widening participation and
community engagement.

Professor Robin Baker OBE, Director of Ravensbourne College said:


“We are incredibly excited that after many years of planning, construction work is now
starting and our new building will soon be realised. We are undergoing an exciting
transformation to create an educational model that minimises the gap between an
educational and a professional experience. We want to offer our students the very best
learning environment so that they stand head and shoulders above their peers when
entering professional practice. The design of our new building, together with its exciting
location on the Greenwich Peninsula, will provide the best possible setting for this
educational model to flourish.”

Speaking at the event, Housing Minister Iain Wright said:

"We are investing more than £9 billion across the Thames Gateway, and it is exciting to
see projects like Ravensbourne College becoming a reality. Over the next decade, it is
estimated 24,000 new jobs will be created in the Greenwich Peninsula, and
Ravensbourne College will be at the forefront of helping drive forward this regeneration."

Leader of Greenwich Council Chris Roberts said:

"The Peninsula is one of the key strategic sites in Greenwich Council's plans to
regenerate the western end of the Thames Gateway. A Masterplan for its development
has seen the creation of a new mixed use district, generating major new training,
employment and business opportunities for Greenwich. Over the next 15 years the
Peninsula will be transformed into a thriving community and the college will play an
important part of this transformation. The regeneration and rebuilding of the area will help
to improve the life chances, opportunities and aspirations of local people."

Ends
Notes to Editors
For information, please contact Joy McKee, Communications Officer on 0208 289 4815,
j.mckee@ac.uk or visit www.rave.ac.uk

Ravensbourne
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. It believes that
students need to be fluent in the use of digital technologies, not just as a tool but as a
medium, in order to stand head and shoulders above their peers when entering
professional practice.

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. It has a community of approximately 1,400
students that 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 broadcasting; interaction, media and sound design;


animation and performance video; fashion, product, interior, graphic, and moving image
design. In 2009/10 Ravensbourne will be relocating to an iconic, purpose built college on
the Greenwich Peninsula to mark its educational transformation. For more information
visit: www.rave.ac.uk

English Partnerships

English Partnerships is the national regeneration agency helping the Government to


support high quality sustainable growth in England by creating well-served mixed
communities where people enjoy living and working.

The agency is overseeing the regeneration of Greenwich Peninsula and has invested over
£225m since 1997.

In collaboration with the Housing Corporation, the Academy for Sustainable Communities
and Communities and Local Government we are establishing the new Homes and
Communities Agency that will begin operating in 2009.

About Greenwich Peninsula


The £5 billion regeneration of 190 acres of Greenwich Peninsula led by Lend Lease and
Quintain Estates and Development PLC working with English Partnerships, will create a
thriving new riverside community for London over the next 15 years.
· 10,000 new homes in distinct residential neighbourhoods
· 24,000 permanent jobs
· Peninsula Central - a new business district for London
· 150 new shops and restaurants
· 1.6 miles of river frontage; the distance between Waterloo and London Bridge
· 48 acres of open spaces and parks; the size of Green Park
· Extensive new community and leisure facilities
· The O2 entertainment destination delivered and operated by AEG Europe
· Excellent transport links, situated in zone 2 on the jubilee line
· Aspiration for the highest environmental standards for new buildings
www.greenwichpeninsula.co.uk

About Lend Lease


Lend Lease listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, is a leading real estate specialist
which creates and manages real estates assets around the world. In the UK its business
is focussed primarily in the delivery of large scale mixed use schemes which lead to the
regeneration of major urban sites.
www.lendlease.com

About Quintain Estates and Development PLC


Quintain is a leading property investment and development company specialising in
strategic property acquisition, redevelopment, asset management and regeneration
across the UK. Quintain operates through three business segments - fund management,
property investment and urban regeneration.
Quintain is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a FTSE 250 company.
www.quintain-estates.com

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