The building in Queen Square

THE historic former home of a pioneering adult education college has been put up for auction with a guide price of at least £7.5million, writes Tom Foot.

The former Mary Ward Centre was in the Grade II-listed building in Queen Square, Bloomsbury, for decades.

The education centre that had been on the site for decades was named after a Victorian novelist and founding president of the Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League.

It moved out of the building as part of a merger deal with an east London college in 2022.

The building is now being marketed as perfect for a “change of use” application to become a potential medical facility in what has been branded Camden’s Knowledge Quarter.

Allsop investment manager Nick Pemberton said: “Freehold corner buildings in London’s garden squares do not come to the market very often.

“This building has amazing natural light and high ceilings throughout as you would expect. It was originally endowed to our clients, the RFSA, in 1908, while the square in which it sits has long been associated with the medical profession, with King George III believed to have sought medical treatment there in the 1760s.

“Positioned in the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter and surrounded by globally recognised healthcare and research institutions, 42–43 Queen Square is ideally suited to a range of medical and life sciences occupiers, although with existing educational use and potential for offices or residential, it will attract a wide range of interest.”

The building has been home to various colleges including the Royal Female School of Art before becoming the base for the Mary Ward Centre.

Its move east was delayed due to the Covid pandemic and later the organisation was hit by a financial problems.