design solutions
Downsizing beautifully
As part of a project to reposition itself as a post-graduate research institution with a greater focus on attracting international students, Wesley College, Cambridge has reduced the scale of its accommodation to less than a third of its size
C
owper Griffith Architects has completed the redevelopment of Wesley College, rationalising accommodation and reproducing key facilities lost due to a vast reduction in the size of the Cambridge College. The scheme accommodates a broad range of new and upgraded high quality facilities including: a new library, a common/dining room, the retained chapel, seminar rooms, administration and staff accommodation as well as new and refurbished student housing. Wesley House is the academic centre for
the Wesleyan Methodist church in England. Built in 1928 the buildings were designed by Maurice Webb in an Arts & Crafts style, taking inspiration from Morris, Ruskin and Lutyens. Cowper Griffith Architects’ approach to the re-planning of the new College campus respected both the spiritual and physical presence of the chapel as the ‘heart’ of the Wesleyan community. An early drawing prepared by Webb shows an open courtyard onto Jesus Lane, but this was closed off in the 1960’s leaving only a narrow opening for the public face of the College onto Jesus Lane and the public domain. The important replacement spaces, including the new Library and the shared dining room and common room are therefore placed above the Porters lodge, facing on to the street to the south and the court to
the back, forming a bridge between the outer world and the Wesleyan community, a metaphor for the work of the church. Administration is placed in two C18 buildings on Jesus Lane.
The Porters Lodge and “Gate” for the College both refers to the traditional form of other Colleges in the City as well as terminating the view down Malcolm Street on the opposite side of Jesus Lane. The design is slightly set back from the buildings either side and reticent in character, as a reflection of the Wesleyan belief. The composition begins with a simple stone portal and gate, framed by a rusticated brickwork base and stone plinth. At first floor a bronze oriel window is offset as the south end of the library, a detail which is repeated on the north side into the court. The top floor common room and dining room sits back behind the top of the façade brickwork. Westmoreland slate, matching the original College buildings, is terminated with a cupola lighting the dining hall below. The ground floor entrance is carefully articulated as two separate spaces quite different in character, building the tension of the entrance “journey”. The first, providing an entrance to the general areas of the College is framed by a beautiful oak bench with carved verse above, continuing Webb’s tradition of craftsmanship.
The sensitive refurbishment and partial
redevelopment of the site has resulted in a scheme which has successfully provided all the needs of the College within a compact site while also carefully and creatively stitching into the nearby listed 1920s and 18th century buildings. The result is a compact site in the exceptional setting of Cambridge, with a range of accommodation, academic and theological facilities.
www.cowpergriffith.co.uk
highereducationestates 19
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