Community

Universities become a formative second home to students, scholars and faculty. The buildings that facilitate these interconnected communities need to create a sense of togetherness and fellowship — a home away from home. By providing high-quality solutions for communal spaces — such as student common rooms, dining halls and Porter’s lodges we are able to realise our client’s goals to foster a sense of place and community.

We have delivered such schemes at several Colleges at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, Queen Mary University of London, University of Essex and University of Northampton amongst others.

The success of these projects is achieved through close collaboration with the client and developing an understanding of the end-user’s needs and habits.

St Catherine’s College, Oxford

St Catherine’s new Graduate Centre provides multiple learning environments, including seminar, multi-purpose space and the Middle Common Room, all to a high architectural quality to ensure end-user enjoyment. The centre provides somewhere comfortable to quietly study or research whilst in a relaxed environment and also social hubs for the graduate student community.

We were also commissioned to extend student accommodation facilities to enable the College to continue to grow and expand. The new student accommodation pavilion is completely accessible and up to modern standards.

St John’s College, Cambridge

Our work at St John’s College has seen the refurbishment of outdated student accommodation and increased common spaces. The Maufe Building refurbishment was a phased £6m project to provide student rooms with ensuite facilities and enclosure of part of the colonnade to extend the porters’ lodge. The project also saw the reordering of support facilities including the health centre to better serve the College.

The refurbishment of Grade I-listed E Stair, New Court has brought the building up to date, whilst respecting its heritage, for the exclusive use of Fellows. It has seen the sensitive insertion of a lift, renewal of all services, external conservation repairs and internal reordering to adapt the staircase to suit modern requirements and comforts.

St Antony’s College, Hilda Besse

The Hilda Besse Building, an iconic 20th century building by HKPA, was suffering after 50 years of continual use. Purcell is currently working to completely refurbish the building to protect the structure and ensure the much-loved building is able to best serve the next generations of students. Hilda Besse is the heart of St Antony’s College, containing all the social spaces for the College.

With our in-depth knowledge of 20th century structures our work will enhance its distinctive architectural qualities whilst ensuring the building’s sustainable future.

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