Project: University of Sussex – The Sussex Institute Building
John Pardey Architects won an RIBA competition to provide six new ‘School Centres’ at Basil Spence’s listed campus to accommodate a reorganisation of the university faculty structure. Our designs are an architectural response to the heavy, monumental and earthbound language of the existing Spence buildings – using lightweight, elegant and floating elements to create a complementary language without recourse to pastiche. The first centre, the post-graduate Sussex Institute, creates a new double height foyer, conceived as a folded, aluminium-clad plane – which is lined internally in cedar boarding. This forms a ‘gateway’ into the school and links directly to a new steel framed loggia structure that wraps around two sides of a semi-enclosed court that connects two blocks that together house the new Institute. Following a reorganisation at Sussex University from 22 departments into six new schools, John Pardey Architects won the RIBA competition to provide six new School Centres.
• help create a sense of place to the landscape around each entrance • brand the University for the next generation Our architectural response to the monumental, earthbound language of the existing buildings is one of counterpoint – using lightweight, elegant, floating elements (metal rather than masonry) to create a complementary language without recourse to pastiche. The additive elements of our proposals are clearly interventions rather than freestanding buildings and are designed to respect their various contexts.
The University of Sussex was founded in 1961 and the original campus (now listed) was laid out by Sir Basil Spence. The buildings combine a language of concrete lintels and arches supporting brickwork. In 2004 the university recognised the need to make an attractive environment for prospective and current students as well as visitors and staff so our commission was to create a series of new school centres – perhaps more accurately described as shop fronts – to act as both entrance, social space and front of house services for each school.
The buildings used a passive environmental approach and no artificial ventilation or air-conditioning is provided. Instead, the building relies on orientation of glazing, cross ventilation and user controls with such simple strategies such as opening ventilation panels.
The Sussex Institute building utilised the exisiting buildings as well as adding a new frontispiece to act as new face of the school. Our approach for the new build elements was based on the following design philosophies that:
The project received very positive support from CABE.
• share a common language that creates a sense of arrival and identity • respect and complement the existing architecture (including some listed buildings)
PROJECT DETAILS Client: Status: Contract value:
University of Sussex Completed 2006 £780,000.00
Structural Engineer: M+E Engineers: Cost Consultant:
Barton Engineers GTA Consulting Engineers RLF Brighton