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Visiting the RCA

Last updated 8 April 2024

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The College's London campus has three sites, in the creative quarters of Kensington, Battersea and White City.

Please note, our buildings are only accessible to the public during exhibitions, events or open days. If you would like to visit the RCA, sign up to one of our on-campus Open Days and campus tours.

RCA Campuses

Battersea

Battersea map

1 Hester Road
London SW11 4AY

The Battersea campus is served by bus routes 19, 49, 170, 319 and 345. Buses stop at Battersea Bridge/Hester Road.

For more information, see TfL Bus maps.

Kensington

Kensington map

Darwin & Stevens Buildings
Kensington Gore,
London SW7 2EU

Note: access to both buildings is via Jay Mews.

The closest tube stations to the Kensington campus are High Street Kensington (10-minute walk or 5 minutes on bus 9, 10, 452 or 52), South Kensington (10-minute walk), Knightsbridge (20-minute walk or 5 minutes on bus 9, 10, 452 or 52) and Lancaster Gate (15-minute walk).

Bus routes include 9, 10, 52, 70, 360 and 452. Buses stop at Royal Albert Hall, Palace Gate and Prince Consort Road.

For more information, see Transport for London.

White city

Garden House
Dorando Close
London W12 7FN

White City is served by White City Station (five-minute walk), and by bus routes 72, 95, 220, 228, 272 and 283. Buses stop at White City Estate, White City Station or South Africa Road.

For more information, see Transport for London.

Additional information for visitors

The College has cycle parking at Battersea,  Kensington and White City (cycles are left at the owner's risk). 

For more information, see TfL Cycle maps.

TfL bikes are available from:

Westbridge Road (Battersea)
Kensington Gore (Kensington)
Prince Consort Road (Kensington)
Imperial College (Kensington)
Queen’s Gate, North (Kensington)
Queen’s Gate (Kensington)
Westfield Ariel Way (White City)
BBC White City, (White City)

For more information, see TfL Cycle Hire. 

The College has limited parking spaces for invited visitors in Kensington, and no allocted parking in Battersea or White City. 

Local parking is restricted 8.30am – 6.30pm, Monday to Saturday. There is some metred parking in Kensington Gore.

Taxis are frequent on Kensington Gore, directly outside the College's Kensington site.

To book a minicab or black cab in advance, use TfL's Cabwise service and text CAB to 60835 to get numbers of three local cab offices.

Eduroam allows Royal College of Art staff, students and researchers to connect securely to other participating institutions' wireless network and to the Internet. Similarly, students and staff from other Eduroam-participating institutions can securely connect to the RCA wireless network and to the Internet.

Configuration

Visitors

Please make sure that your Eduroam connection works at your own institution before attempting to connect at the RCA.

RCA Users

You must login using your RCA email address as the username. This will usually be in either of these formats:

Password: your usual RCA password

Configuration installer: https://cat.eduroam.org/?idp=188

Please make sure that this works at College before you try it elsewhere.

To use any RCA network file share once connected, please use the VPN.

Where You Can Use It

At the Royal College of Art: Darwin, Stevens, Dyson Sackler and Sculpture Buildings. 

Many London and UK universities, national collections, educational and research organisations and museums.

Participating Institutions

Support

If you are trying to connect from any other participating institution, please use IT support from your home institution (RCA) for any unexpected technical issues, not IT support from the host organisation.

For more information, visit www.eduroam.org

The main exhibition galleries at our Kensington campus on Kensington Gore and Jay Mews are located at ground and lower ground level. There is ramp access to the Ground and Lower Ground galleries via our main entrance on Kensington Gore (adjacent to Royal Albert Hall) and on Jay Mews. All College floors are accessible via lifts, with wheelchair lifts provided for access to Lecture Theatres One and Two at Kensington. 

At out Battersea campus, the Howie Street galleries are all on ground level, while the Dyson Lecture Theatre and River Foyer at Hester Road are accessible via lifts.

Please refer to the maps below for further details. 

Kensington

Ground Floor Access 

Ground floor access map (PDF)

Use the main College entrance on Kensington Gore to the Upper Galleries then lifts to the Lower Galleries. 

Lower Ground Floor Access 

Lower ground floor access map (PDF)

Use the Jay Mews entrance to Lower Galleries and Seminar Rooms.

Access to the Senior Common Room is via the Common Room Block lift. 

Access to the Basement and Lecture Theatre One is via the Common Room Block lift and wheelchair lift. 

Access to the Lecture Theatre Two is via wheelchair lift.

Please report to Reception on arrival.

Basement and Lecture Theatre One Access

Basement and Lecture Theatre One access map (PDF)

Use the Jay Mews entrance to Basement and Lecture Theatre One.

Access to Lecture Theatre One is via wheelchair lift.

Battersea

Howie Street Access

The Howie Street galleries are all located at ground level.

Hester Road Dyson Building Access

Access to the ground floor gallery is via the Hester Road entrance.

Access to the first floor River Foyer and Lecture Theatre is via the Hester Road entrance and lift.

See also

Digital print lab

Contact us

Find the best contact for your enquiry, as well as the location of each School, Research Centre or department.
Student in VR/XR lab

Open days

Our open days are an excellent way for you to learn more about what to expect from studying at the RCA.