Goodenough College opens new student accommodation in five renovated Georgian houses

Taking part in the opening celebrations were Trustees, students, donors, alumni, staff and College partners, as well as the architects and building companies involved.

Opening the houses The Lady Mayor said: “As I’ve got to know the College I really do think that you represent everything that’s best about London: openness, diversity and importantly, ambition. A place where you truly bring people together.

“All of us in the City of London Corporation have a very close connection that we are incredibly proud of – it first started 80 years ago through one of my predecessors, Lord Mayor Frederick Rowland. It was the Thanksgiving Fund that he launched after the second World War, to show the country’s appreciation of the Commonwealth and the USA, that helped build William Goodenough House. And now 69 years on it’s wonderful to see these beautiful historic buildings.”

The College’s Patron, His Majesty King Charles III sent his warmest wishes to the College and praised its “long-standing commitment to supporting academics from across the world to foster international understanding and entertain new ideas and values.”

Work to renovate and repurpose the five fine Georgian houses – with rich historical, literary and academic associations – into student accommodation was completed just in time for the College’s autumn intake of students. The Georgian Houses will enable 68 additional graduate students to join the Goodenough community each year, strengthening the College’s reach and responding to sustained strong demand for places. Each of the houses provides a mix of bedroom types, including many lower cost rooms, to help attract the widest range of students and ensure that cost is not a barrier to access for those of more limited financial means.

Financing of the project was supported by the College’s ‘Room to Grow’ fundraising campaign, which raised an impressive £3 million from the College’s Alumni, friends and supporters.

Alumnus Jonathan Fitzgerald, Trustee and Chair of the ‘Room to Grow’ campaign said: “I have been deeply moved by the support received from Alumni, donors and friends of the College around the world. I would particularly like to thank the London Goodenough Association of Canada and the wider Canadian community for their longstanding generosity and dedication to the College and its Members. Their contribution to this project reflects a deep and enduring connection to Goodenough’s values and future. My thanks also go to the many supporters whose gifts, large and small, have helped bring this vision to life.”

Alice Walpole, Director of Goodenough College, added: “The new accommodation will, we are confident, quickly become a welcoming home-from-home, places where ideas are exchanged, lifelong friendships are made and residents find both inspiration and community during their time of study in London. Projects of this scale and complexity are never the work of one individual or one team alone. My warmest thanks go to everyone whose vision, expertise, generosity and persistence have helped bring this project to fruition.”