From 2015-2021, Richard Rogers’ iconic Wimbledon house provided GSD and its students with a residence to study urban, architectural, and design elements of post-World War II Europe.

Although ownership of the house changed to the Richard Rogers Charitable Settlement in 2021, our UK entity remains in place to support a variety of University activities and services across the United Kingdom.

Investigating and Transforming the Built Environment

Harvard University Graduate School of Design’s (GSD) commitment to design excellence and societal engagement extended around the globe with the gift of 22 Parkside—a house in southwest London designed by prominent British architect Richard Rogers.

Rogers donated the house to our UK entity for the benefit of GSD and established a new fellowship program, the Richard Rogers Wimbledon House Research Program, which aimed to investigate urban, architectural, and design elements—particularly of post-World War II Europe—that improve and transform the built environment. Following extensive repairs and renovations, the house and property were used to accommodate fellows during their residency and host lectures, symposia, and related events.

We entered a close partnership with GSD, in which we maintained ownership and upkeep of the house and property, while GSD assumed full responsibility for all programmatic activities.

Harvard Global Services in the UK

This project operated under our local entity, Harvard Global UK. As a registered UK charity and private company, we’re able to support a variety of activities and services across the United Kingdom.

For GSD, we provided our standard suite of services for office administration and gift administration. We also undertook work unique to this project, such as:

  • Securing UK charity and Gift Aid registration
  • Transferring ownership of the house and managing gifts associated with it
  • Liaising with consultants to assess house repairs and renovations
  • Engaging local support to maintain the house and property

Questions and Contact

Lia Tjahjana, Senior International Program and Operations Consultant