Residents at Wolfson House were evacuated on 2 February after a local power cut caused damage to a transformer serving the residence around 7pm, causing a major power outage affecting both Wolfson House and Guy’s Hospital.
Residents were able to return on the next day’s evening to the hall, located on Guy’s Campus, but faced disrupted living conditions, including a lack of running water and limited cooking facilities.
Joe, a resident who was in his room at the time of the power cut, told Roar he heard a loud bang around 7pm – thought to be caused by an arcing transformer near Wolfson. Lights throughout the residence went out immediately and the fire alarm went off 15 minutes later.
He added that a lot of rooms on the upper floors shook heavily – so much so that the clothes of some residents, as well as his shoe rack which was attached to the wall, fell to the ground.
Everyone in the building was then evacuated to a lecture theatre nearby in New Hunt’s House (NHH) where they waited for nearly three hours with what one student described as “little to no information” from the university.
Olivia, another resident, said she was in the library at the time of the power cut. Because she was not in the residence, she was not taken to the lecture hall and instead had to spend the night at a friend’s house.
She said that most of the information she received came through social media messages from other students and expressed concern about the lack of communication from King’s administration, describing its response to the crisis as “poorly organised”.
Olivia also said that staff provided inconsistent information about when the issues would be resolved.
Residents who needed their medication had to send room numbers and names to the Wolfson House WhatsApp group chat to be permitted to return to the building to retrieve it, accompanied by security personnel – but one student told Roar, “some weren’t allowed even that”.
According to residents, no further information was provided by King’s about whether they would be allowed back into Wolfson House until after midnight, when residents in the NHH lecture theatre were told that individual rooms at the Strand Palace Hotel – about two miles away – would be provided.
Students in the lecture theatre were told that they could book taxis to the hotel, which would be reimbursed at a later date.
However, students have told Roar that no confirmation email was sent that evening. As a result, some residents who were waiting at friends’ homes had already booked alternative accommodation or arranged to stay elsewhere and only learned about the Strand Palace Hotel booking through word of mouth.
“Strand Palace Hotel was arranged with 200 individual rooms for students which was great, but there was also no official communication about this in any way, it spread through word of mouth.”
Wolfson House resident
The first official communication from Kings was made at 11am on 3 February in an email detailing the situation. Residents were allowed back into the building in 15-minute slots to collect essential items, accompanied by King’s security personnel, but were asked to make use of campus buildings throughout the day.
Residents who had stayed at the Strand Palace Hotel had to check out by 11 am, leaving many uncertain of where they would be staying that evening until an email at around 2pm confirmed they could return to Wolfson in an hour’s time.
Residents were also allowed to use showers and common rooms at the Great Dover Street and Stamford Street residences, if needed. King’s told students in an email that they would be reimbursed for any food in their freezers or fridges that had spoiled, as well as any travel or meal expenses.
Later in the evening, at about 8:30pm, students discovered that the residence had lost all running water. Some contacted King’s to request alternative accommodation, citing the safety concerns of having no running water, particularly problematic in the residence’s 14-room flats, but received no immediate response.
The university confirmed that running water had been restored to the residence.
Residents reported the matter to Wolfson House administration, King’s Residences and later to KCLSU, which has worked to advocate for the affected students.
Students expressed their outrage at what they described as the “nothing less than outrageous” KCL response to the crisis.
A disabled student shared their experience of KCL’s support following the incident:
“When I arrived back at Wolfson after checking out of Strand Palace, I asked the property manager what my assistance animal and I were supposed to do, and where we should go. He replied, ‘That’s a good question.’ When I pressed him, he said we might be able to go to GDSA, and I was made to walk all the way there.
“For the average person, this wouldn’t be a challenge. For me, it left me in debilitating agony. The fact that there was no plan in place is horrifying.”
A spokesperson for King’s College London said:
“We are hugely grateful to our teams for their quick response when a power outage in the local London Bridge area cut off electricity to Wolfson House. Our immediate priority was ensuring that our students were safe and had access to power – our teams worked at pace to source 200 rooms at the nearby Strand Palace Hotel, and worked throughout the night and into the next day to resolve the situation and minimise the disruption the external outage caused to the King’s residence.
“All students were safely relocated until we could confirm that the building had been made safe and power restored so they could return to their accommodation. The subsequent temporary issue with running water has since been fully resolved.
“A team of ten welfare leads were on site to support students and answer questions, and we updated our students as swiftly as we could with the information provided to us by the technicians and specialists working on resolving the local outage. We appreciate that this was an unsettling experience, and students have been advised on how to claim cost for travel and food during the outage.
“Students can contact our Residences Wellbeing Team ([email protected]) or Wellbeing Advisors ([email protected]) for any ongoing support.”
Fatima Hire, VP Welfare and Community, told Roar:
“I was saddened to hear about the incident at Wolfson House. This will have undoubtedly been a difficult experience for all residents. I know that student safety was prioritised in the evacuation.
“However, this incident underlines the need for student accommodation that is fit for purpose and provides a good standard of living. In a cost-of-living crisis, it is imperative that accommodation provides good value for money without sacrificing standards.
“I will continue to actively lobby for improved and accessible student housing through KCLSU’s housing campaign, Halls for All. I’m available for any student to come and voice their concerns to me directly.”
If any students who were affected by this incident need support, please reach out to the following services which are offered by KCLSU and the University:
