LONDON FILM SCHOOL WITHDRAWS FROM MOVE TO BARBICAN CENTRE IN 2017
London 31 July 2015: The London Film announced today that it has withdrawn from its deal with the City of London Corporation to re-locate to the Barbican Centre in 2017. The LFS had secured a lease to convert Exhibition Hall 1 on Golden Lane/ Beech Street.
The proposed relocation was publicly announced in September 2013 with the lease signed in January 2015. LFS CEO Jane Roscoe said, “We are incredibly disappointed not to be able to move forward with this project. The challenges of converting a 1960’s Exhibition Hall into a contemporary film school, in the current environment, have made the original £12M budget unrealistic.
Despite £1.8m of pledged support from Creative Skillset and additional pledges from a number of generous individuals and Trusts, we have so far, not been able to unlock the level of private funding required for us to realise a project of this scale.
We have taken this difficult decision, before the build was tendered, in order to allow the City to find another suitable tenant. I’d like to extend our thanks to Sir Nicholas Kenyon and his team at the Barbican Centre, City of London Corporation, Nicholas Hare Architects, Gardiner & Theobald and everyone who has supported the project to date. Our conversations and collaborations will continue into the future. We are now focussed on a strategic review which will enable us to move and realise our potential.”