Churchill College Cambridge, Architecture, Cowan Court Building Photos, Architect, News
Churchill College Cambridge
Modern College Buildings in England, UK – original design by Richard Sheppard, Robson & Partners
11 Mar 2017
Location: Storey’s Way, West Cambridge, Southeast England, United Kingdom
Design: 6a architects
Cowan Court at Churchill College Buildings
Cowan Court, Churchill College buildings
6a architects has completed Cowan Court at Churchill College, University of Cambridge. The 68-room hall of residence is the first completely new court to be built since the early years of the college, which was founded as a memorial to Sir Winston Churchill in the “white heat of technology” of the early 1960s.
The original college buildings were designed by Sheppard Robson following one of the most important architectural competitions of the post-war period and in 2008, 6a won an international competition to add the new courtyard building.
The foundation of Churchill College pioneered both the radical expansion of university education and British architecture. Today the Grade II-listed college is one of the finest examples of English Brutalism in the UK. Half a century after the college was founded, Cowan Court turns the picturesque Brutalism of the original college towards the twenty-first century. 6a has transformed the raw sensuality of the original brick and board-marked concrete courts into an innovative, contemporary, low-energy timber building.
Cowan Court has three storeys, forming a square court with the same footprint as the existing courts in the college. In its overhanging floors, the jettying timber recalls the concrete bands across the facades of the existing courts, while its shadow measures the progress of the sun across the façade. Each of the facades is curved like the entasis of a classical column. The square windows of the student rooms spiral up and across, chasing around corners in playful misalignment.
source: e-flux Architecture
30 Apr 2014
Churchill College Debate
Churchill Revisited, London, UK
1 May 2014, 6.15pm
A Debate about the architectural competition for one of the first Cambridge Colleges of the modern era.
In 1959, four architectural teams were shortlisted to design Churchill College:
• Chamberlin, Powell & Bon
• Howard Killick Partridge & Amis
• Richard Sheppard Robson & Partners – Sheppard Robson
• Stirling & Gowan – James Stirling
1. Chamberlin, Powell & Bon:
photo by kind permission of Frank Woods
2. Howell, Killick, Partridge & Amis:
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photo by kind permission of John Partridge
3. Stirling & Gowan:
photo by kind permission of James Gowan and the Canadian Centre for Architecture
4. Richard Sheppard, Robson & Partners:
photo by kind permission of Sheppard Robson
Architects Alison Brooks, Claudia and Patrick Lynch, Tom Emerson of 6a, and Elain Harwood of English Heritage will present the original schemes to a panel of architects and critics chaired by Paul Finch.
Paul Finch is the chair/moderator.
Dr. Mark Goldie of Churchill College (author of Corbusier comes to Cambridge) is the guest speaker.
The presenters/champions are:
1. Alison Brooks is to present the HKP&A scheme
2. Patrick & Claudia Lynch are to present the Stirling Gowan scheme
3. Tom Emerson of 6a is to present the Sheppard Robson scheme and
4. Elain Harwood of English Heritage is to present the Chamberlain Powell & Bon scheme
The panel of critics are:
1. MJ Long
2. Peter Carolin
3. David Dunster
4. Clare Wright
Date: Thursday 1st May 2014
Time: 6.00 pm for 6.15 pm start
Venue: Pilbrow & Partners, 2 St John’s Square, London EC1
Book this event: Members £24 ; Concession £12; Non-Members £30
Churchill College Architecture Debate
Churchill College buildings
Address: Storey’s Way
Date built: 1959-68
Design: Richard Sheppard, Robson & Partners
Churchill College Buildings
photo © Adrian Welch
Pleasant series of external courts – some partly open, some enclosed – with attractive landscaping. One court contains a huge sprawling tree and the entry is between two lovely pools. The styling of the facades is a little sombre and typical of the sixties.
Competition winner, beating Stirling & Gowan, Chamberlin, Powell & Bon and Howell, Killick & Partridge; Judges included Leslie Martin and Basil Spence. Leslie Martin designed Harvey Court with Colin St John Wilson, a seminal Modern building; Basil Spence also designed a Cambridge building, at Queens’ College.
Stirling went on to work on the History Faculty for the University of Cambridge whilst Chamberlin, Powell & Bon worked on New Hall College.
Churchill College – recent buildings
off Storey’s Way
–
Henning Larsen Architect
photo © Adrian Welch
These postmodern buildings look rather thin and don’t appear to fully engage with ideas and issues in traditional Cambridge architecture.
Møller Centre for Continuing Education by Henning Larsen opened in 1992, a gift from Danish tycoon Maersk McKinney Møller.
Address: Storey’s Way, Cambridge, CB3 0DS, south east England, UK
Cambridge Architecture Designs
Cambridge Architecture Tours – tailored city walks by e-architect
Churchill College Cambridge: Photos © Adrian Welch, 2005
Cambridge Building News – Selection
Churchill College – Postgraduate Accommodation, off Storey’s Way
2002
Design: Cottrell & Vermeulen
Walls clad in clay tiles for Sussex
photo © Adrian Welch
Evoking Arts & Crafts houses such as ‘Elmside’ by E.S. Prior on Grange Rd.
The Møller Centre, Churchill College
2007
Design: DSDHA architects
Shortlist of four architects in 1959 architecture competiton:
Chamberlin Powell & Bon; HKPA; Sheppard Robson; Stirling & Gowan
Cambridgeshire Building Designs
Cambridgeshire Architecture Designs – property selection below:
Education Campus in Alconbury Weald, Cambridgeshire
Architect: Atkins
image courtesy of architects
Education Campus in Alconbury Weald
Emmanuel College
Architect: Stanton Williams
image courtesy of architects
Emmanuel College Building in Cambridge
Comments / photos for the Churchill College Architecture design by Richard Sheppard, Robson & Partners UK page welcome