A slice of Silicon Valley – inside the RCA’s colossal new £135m building

The Royal College of Art’s brutalist new building – by architects Herzog & de Meuron – reflects a shift from art school to science-tech powerhouse. But is a business-facing behemoth what its students really need?
Standing like the brutalist lovechild of a factory and a multi-storey car park, the Royal College of Art’s colossal new studio building in Battersea is an arresting thing to behold. Its brawny brick flanks extend for 120 metres down the street in an unbroken