Design with purpose: Students help reimagine an historic London building
Imagine stepping out of the classroom and into one of London’s most atmospheric cemeteries — and being asked to help shape its future.
That’s exactly what happened for LSBU Architecture and Product Design students this year, who took part in a special live project at Nunhead Cemetery, a historic site in south London. Together, they explored how to make sustainable design work in a place full of history — and helped plan a new future for a crumbling old building.
Bringing new life to an old landmark
The East Lodge is a small Victorian building at the entrance to Nunhead Cemetery. It's a Grade II-listed site — meaning it’s protected for its historical importance — but until recently, it was in ruins.
Now, thanks to funding from Southwark Council and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the lodge is being restored and turned into a welcoming space for the local community. The project is being led by local volunteers from Friends of Nunhead Cemetery (FONC) and designed by heritage specialists Roger Mears Architects.
To help shape ideas for the building, LSBU students from both the Architecture (MArch and Apprenticeship) and Product Design courses were invited to get involved.
This is part of an exciting new partnership between LSBU and Southwark Council — and this year was just the beginning.
Getting out of the classroom and into the real world
In February, students were introduced to the project by lead architect Sarah Khan. They later visited the site to explore the building up close and learn more about its history, the challenges of restoring it, and the plans for its future.
Over the following weeks, the students worked in groups to develop creative ideas, solve design challenges, and present their work to the architects, council team, and community group.
For many, it was the first time they’d worked on a real project with external clients — and it opened their eyes to how design can shape the world around us.
“It made me think differently about how we use sustainable design in heritage buildings. Sometimes, you have to adapt modern ideas to fit with the past — especially when it’s a public space that means something to local people.”
From Product Design to heritage shading
Product Design students took on the challenge of improving the outdoor café terrace area, creating shading concepts that could enhance wellbeing for visitors while being practical, sustainable, and sensitive to the heritage setting.
As part of their Design for a Sustainable Society module, students had just two weeks to ideate and present their concepts — but the results were impressive. Their creative, well-crafted proposals demonstrated how design can respond meaningfully to social and environmental needs, and how even short projects can offer rich, real-world experience.
"I found working on a live project really valuable, as it offered a more realistic insight into how projects are delivered and presented in industry. Having access to professionals actively involved in the project was also incredibly helpful—it gave us a better understanding of real-world processes and expectations."
Another student said:
As part of the Nunhead Cemetery Project, I learned the importance of approaching a project collaboratively, especially when working on something that directly impacts a community. I had to adapt my existing knowledge learnt in this course to engage ad respect historical buildings, which taught me how to be flexible and sensitive to a certain context whilst still expressing my creativity.
This experience will be extremely useful in my future career, as I believe it is common in professional settings to be placed on unfamiliar projects and work with people from a wide range of backgrounds and work together to find a solution to the obstacle you are facing while being brief specific.
Architecture students tackle sustainability challenges
For Architecture students, the focus was on how to apply sustainable principles in a building with heritage status.
Working on the Energy and Resource Efficiency in Design module, they looked at big issues like reducing carbon emissions, supporting biodiversity, and reusing existing buildings rather than knocking them down.
“Researching Victorian architecture helped me realise how buildings used to work with the climate — like using natural ventilation or thick walls to keep cool,” said one student. “It’s inspired me to use some of those ideas in my future work.”
Another student said:
“The project also made me think differently about how architects can engage with the community. Seeing how neighbours were invited in and how local pride plays a part in sustainable design was really powerful.”
Why it matters
This live project gave students the chance to build real skills, try out ideas in a professional setting, and contribute to something meaningful — a project that’s going to have a lasting impact on the local community.
It also showed how sustainable design isn’t just about using the latest materials or tech. Sometimes it’s about listening to the past, respecting local people, and finding smart ways to reuse what we already have.
This is just the beginning — future LSBU students will have more opportunities to get involved as the project continues.
Huge thanks to…
- Sarah Khan and John Miminas (Roger Mears Architects)
- Nina Chantry and Catrin Podgorski (Southwark Council)
- Jeff Hart and Jane Hart (Friends of Nunhead Cemetery)
- LSBU staff: Benjamin Lishman, Igea Troiani, Eva Sopeoglou, Daniel Wing Hang Tang, Deborah Andrews, Daniele di Paolo
- And of course, the brilliant students who took part!