Thames design arm planned

The new 17m Thames Gateway Technology Centre, planned to open in London Docklands in 1998, will have a design facility targeted at improving the skills of industrial designers from London and the south.

The Gateway Centre will be part of the 40m Royal University College, a new campus for the University of East London. An architectural competition for the entire building is planned for “as soon as possible”, according to the university’s vice-chancellor Professor Frank Gould.

A current total of 250 design students from all disciplines will move from the University of East London to the Gateway Centre.

The design facility will also offer industrial design courses, which Gould feels will help industry’s in-house designers. “This will be extremely useful for employees who want to raise their skill base, especially in the use of new technology,” he says.