Royal College of Art

The Sigrid Rausing Trust has awarded a gift of £15 million over three years to the Royal College of Art. The one-off gift will enable the internationally renowned art and design university to launch GenerationRCA, an ambitious five-year campaign programme to transform its campuses, research and curriculum.

The RCA’s new academic vision builds on the university’s reputation for working across disciplines, and will involve an integration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics into its creative arts curriculum. The RCA will also create a significant scholarship endowment fund, new faculty positions and a new masters course. The gift from the Sigrid Rausing Trust will enable the creation of a new state-of-the-art building, designed by internationally acclaimed architects Herzog & de Meuron. The new building, situated alongside the existing campus, will provide some 15,500 sqm of studios, workshops, labs and research centres.

Dr Sigrid Rausing, Chair of the Sigrid Rausing Trust, said: “The Royal College of Art has an impressive record of teaching, innovation and inter-disciplinary collaboration, with ambitious plans for the future. I am delighted to make this gift, which will help the College build the infrastructure it needs to enable a new generation of students to develop creative ideas and concepts within the public sector.”

Dr Rausing joined the Council, the governing body of the RCA, in summer 2018.

About the RCA

Established in 1837, the RCA is a specialist and research-intensive postgraduate university based in Battersea, London. The RCA employs around 1,000 professionals – spanning professors, researchers, art and design practitioners, advisers and visiting lecturers- from around the world and offers 30 academic programmes.

The RCA’s approach is founded on the premise that art, design creative thinking, science, engineering and technology must all collaborate to solve today’s global challenges.

In 2018, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales became Royal Visitor of the College. The Prince of Wales succeeded His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, who was Royal Visitor for 50 years.

The RCA runs joint programmes with Imperial College London and the Victoria & Albert Museum. InnovationRCA, the university’s centre for enterprise, entrepreneurship, incubation and business support, has helped over 50 RCA business ideas become a reality and led to the creation of over 600 UK jobs.

The RCA opened the Burberry Material Futures Research Group in 2018 to invent sustainable materials, transform consumer experience and advance manufacturing; and the Intelligent Mobility Design Centre, supported Hyundai Kia, to lead the research agenda at the intersection of people, mobility and technology.

The RCA’s alumni include: Henry Moore, Dame Barbara Hepworth, David Hockney, Bridget Riley, Chris Ofili, Tracey Emin, Sir James Dyson, Sir Ridley Scott, Christopher Bailey, Sir David Adjaye, Thomas Heatherwick, Monster Chetwynd and Asif Kapadia.

All queries to be sent to the Communications Manager, Eve Marlow, at info@srtrust.org.