Penrhyn Road
Every student at Kingston University will visit the Penrhyn Road campus, whether for learning or social activities. Here’s everything you need to know about the campus and its facilities.
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Welcome to Penrhyn Road campus
Close to Kingston town centre, Penrhyn Road campus is a lively central hub which buzzes with student activity, day and night.
Kingston Students' Union is based here, as are the fitness and health centres. This means that students from all our campuses use this site from time to time.
We have invested significantly in the Penrhyn Road campus, which is home to the landmark Town House building. Nearby, you'll find the £20 million John Galsworthy building as well as the Eadweard Muybridge and main buildings, which house lecture theatres and teaching spaces.
We have recently completed a major project to transform the main building at our Penrhyn Road campus, enhancing it for students, staff, and the wider community. The refurbishment spans approximately 4,000 square metres and creates modern social, learning, and collaboration spaces.
Walk through Penrhyn Road's newly transformed main building
The renewed areas offer significant improvements to the campus experience, including a larger multi-functional Kingston Students’ Union space which can be used for events, learning, collaboration and project work. This space includes social and quiet areas and a new kitchen designed for students who commute to campus every day.
Three dedicated Future Skills studios have been created to support the delivery of the University’s sector-leading Future Skills programme, while a new Career Centre has been created at the main entrance of the campus to support students across all stages of their employability journey. There is also a new Connect Space area which will host sessions for students led by employers and other partners.
The expansive refurbishment has been designed to be welcoming and inclusive, incorporating several accessibility features. A lift in the main reception area delivers easier access to other parts of the building, while accessible toilets, a Changing Places toilet, and baby changing and feeding rooms are all available.
Penrhyn Road facilities
The Sopwith Building, named after aviation pioneer Sir Thomas Sopwith, is a state-of-the-art teaching and learning centre primarily serving computing, information systems, and maths students. It features specialised labs, including a games lab equipped with Sony and Microsoft software, gaming consoles, and development tools. The ground floor houses civil engineering labs with reinforced floors and facilities for materials testing, geotechnical and hydraulics research, and advanced surveying equipment, such as satellite GPS systems.
The £20 million John Galsworthy Building is a six-storey teaching and learning complex. It includes lecture theatres, flexible teaching spaces, IT suites and is designed around a landscaped courtyard. It opened in November 2007 and incorporates sustainable features such as rainwater harvesting. The courtyard serves as a social hub for students, especially in good weather. In 2007, the John Galsworthy Building won a RIBA award in the education category.
The Eadweard Muybridge and main buildings at Kingston University's Penrhyn Road campus provide teaching spaces for arts, social sciences, radiography, and sciences. The Eadweard Muybridge Building includes advanced labs for pharmaceutical, forensic, and exercise sciences, featuring a pharmacy practice lab and a 'scene of crime house'. The main building offers film and media labs, a journalism newsroom and state-of-the-art psychology facilities, including specialised and general labs, as well as a PC cluster for experiments.
The canteen at Penrhyn Road, known as the Marketplace, has a wide selection of food and soft drinks. It's a good place for a group discussion over a slice of pizza or a coffee.
The Marketplace is open throughout the day. There's a hot breakfast service, followed by a choice of hot and cold lunches. Either sit down to a cooked meal or grab a quick salad or baguette. Plus healthy snacks, speciality Fairtrade coffee, juices and soft drinks, and freshly baked products are on offer all day. These are available to take away if you're eating on the go.
The Health Centre at Penrhyn Road offers a variety of wellbeing services, including counselling, medical care and complementary therapies.
If not already registered with a local GP, students are strongly encouraged to register with our in-house, on-campus GP surgery, Fairhill Medical Practice as soon as possible. This will help to ensure they receive the care they need, when they need it. These services cover medical consultations, contraceptive advice and vaccinations.
Complementary therapies such as massage, acupuncture, and nutritional therapy are also available.
Students can access confidential counselling and wellbeing services offered by the University, including one-to-one counselling, support for anxiety, time/stress management sessions and listening sessions. For more information, you can visit our Health, wellbeing and counselling webpage.
The Fitness Centre at Penrhyn Road is fully equipped with a fitness studio and a 65-station gym, offering flexibility for workouts at any time. The studio provides a variety of classes, including aerobics, dance, and wellbeing options like Bollywood dancing and Pilates. The gym features the latest cardiovascular equipment, high-specification weight machines and free weights. Experienced staff are available for support, and services include fitness evaluations, personal training and sports massage for injury recovery or relaxation.
Kingston University embraces its diverse student body through a team of faith advisers. The Faith and Spirituality Centre opened in July 2015 at Penrhyn Road and is a purpose-built facility offering spaces for prayer, worship, meditation, and reflection. It also includes religious washing rooms and office space. The centre provides a peaceful environment for individuals and groups to pause, reflect or engage in prayer and worship.
Town House
The University's landmark Town House opened in early 2020 and won the prestigious 2021 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling prize as Britain’s best new building. It was the first university building to receive this esteemed accolade. In addition, the building was also awarded the 2022 EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award.
Designed by Grafton Architects through a RIBA competition in 2013, the structure combines thoughtful design with functionality. It provides performance, learning, exhibition and community spaces. It also houses the library, which is open 24 hours a day during term time. Plus, there are flexible learning spaces, a covered courtyard, cafes, dance studios, roof-top gardens and attractive landscaping.
Accessibility information
This campus has level access from Penrhyn Road and lift access to the library and teaching areas. There are accessible parking spaces for Blue Badge holders near to the main building.
You can see detailed accessibility guides for all our sites on the AccessAble website. You can also view our inclusive facilities on our campus map.
For access information on each of our buildings at this site, please see below:
Penrhyn Road campus map
Download our campus map (PDF)
Where to find Penrhyn Road campus
Kingston University
Penrhyn Road
Kingston upon Thames
Surrey
KT1 2EE
United Kingdom
51.403960769896, -0.30351430000001
How to get here
Penrhyn Road is central to Kingston town centre and easily accessible by public transport.
Cycle parking facilities and showers are available at this site.
Trains run regularly from London Waterloo to Surbiton station (10 trains per hour midweek, journey times 15–32 minutes) and Kingston station (midweek four trains per hour, journey times 28–33 minutes). Both Surbiton and Kingston stations are in Travelcard Zone 6.
From Surbiton station
- leave the railway station via the main exit
- cross the mini-roundabout to Claremont Road
- take the 71, 281, K2 or K3 bus towards Kingston
- get off at the 'Kingston University' stop
- the Penrhyn Road campus is on the other side of the road
From Kingston station
- leave the railway station via the main exit
- cross at the lights in front of you on to Fife Road
- turn left onto Castle Street
- at the end of Castle Street continue ahead on to Eden Street
- cross the mini-roundabout to Brook Street
- cross over at the lights and head right towards the roundabout
- go straight over the roundabout on to Penrhyn Road
- the Penrhyn Road campus is on your left opposite Surrey County Hall
The 71, 281, K2 and K3 buses all run along Penrhyn Road and there are stops directly outside the main entrance. We also run an intersite bus service for students, staff and visitors. The KU1, KU2 and KU3 buses stop at this campus and link the campus with the Kingston and Surbiton mainline stations, other campuses and halls of residence.
We strongly recommend visitors use the excellent public transport links instead of driving.
The University has limited on-site parking facilities and prioritises staff during core working hours (Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 4.30pm). Limited visitor parking is available, but must be pre-booked through the person you are visiting, as parking enforcement measures are in operation at all sites. Parking is provided on all sites for blue badge holders and there are docking bays for electric cars.
Members of the public can pay to use the onsite parking outside of core working hours on a first come, first served basis. Physical pay-to-park facilities are installed at Penrhyn Road, together with a pay-by-phone system known as 'Parkonomy'. All car park users agree to the University’s car parking terms and conditions.
Alternative parking in Kingston Town Centre can also be found on the Parkopedia website, which shows current availability and costs.
Contact us
Need more information?
Contact us to find the right person to reach out to, or call our switchboard on +44 (0)20 8417 9000.
