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PROJECT REPORT: EDUCATION & RESEARCH FACILITIES


CODE ORANGE


The main stair is a striking, painted orange steel structure which extends through the atrium; the colour is continued through elements including seating


encased rectangular form extending through the atrium. It has been carefully detailed, including recessed handrails and wooden treads.


As well as lining the stairs, the orange colour has been used on elements like the planters on the first floor terrace, and some exterior facade panels, adding warmth, particularly at night when the facade is lit.


Social life


The rigour of the briefing process (which didn’t permit anything “whimsical and arbitrary” says Tatham) came alongside a pragmatic consolidation of spaces across the site – previously each department had its own lecture theatres and seminar rooms but also cafeterias. This meant quite a light space utilisation of spaces compared with other parts of the university that shared more space.


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However, the flexible Hub gives the facility for future buildings to avoid needing to have a large lecture theatre, numerous seminar rooms or cafeteria of their own, because its spaces offer all such functions. Giving academic experts from across the university the opportunity to mix and share knowledge informally as well as formally in the new building creates infinite future possibilities for sparking of ideas, which was something that fired Jestico + Whiles’ imagination.


A large part of the building’s function is social, and therefore a lot of focus was placed on the bar and cafeteria design. The clients wanted “a real commercial offer that would make it a destination, not a typical student dining hall.” The idea was also to pull in customers from beyond the immediate campus as well – residents of north west Cambridge.


ADF JANUARY 2023


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