“We have been been impressed with the work the Purcell team have done in helping us to understand our massive Giles Gilbert Scott building, and we have found working with them on our Assessment of Heritage Significance a very positive, easy, and extremely stimulating experience.”
- Mark Purcell, Cambridge University Library
Architects, Masterplanners and Heritage Consultants
Purcell was founded on a belief that buildings and places matter to people.
This core principle continues to shape every Purcell project, from the largest urban regeneration programmes to small, beautifully crafted new buildings. Distinguished by the quality of our design, craftsmanship and attention to detail, our projects set a standard of excellence acknowledged throughout the industry and rewarded internationally with awards.
Our work is diverse in scale and type, ranging from district-scale conservation and renewal programmes such as Battersea Power Station and Manchester Town Hall to jewel-like new designs such as our RIBA Award winning extension to the chapel at Radley College.
Our ethos and culture
Being an Employee Owned Trust allows us to invest in our people, understanding that our people are the key to our success.
We are committed to reviving and retaining the skills required to make long-lasting buildings with meaning, relevance and purpose for all of us. In 2016, we set up our annual Purcell Conservation School to ensure that Purcell’s legacy of conservation expertise continues into the next generation of architects and heritage consultants.
Each year we run a Design Programme, now in it’s seventh year, which includes colleagues from across our UK and Asia Pacific studios, to share ideas, collaborate and innovate without the constraints of a live project.
Our Classical Drawing School runs annually, initiated to hone and develop traditional hand drawing skills, further adding to our blended approach to the continued learning and development of our unique team of conservation and heritage experts.
Coupled with our commitment to the planet is our collective ambition to create places that make a difference to people’s lives. As an employee-owned trust of over 260 colleagues globally, we listen to each other to understand what drives and motivates us. Unanimously, we are committed to being a force for good for people and planet, in our own business operations and in the work we do for our clients.
We run apprenticeship programmes on live projects, mentoring schemes, and engage with youth and community groups at grass roots level, enabling a wide range of voices and opinions to help shape and form the future of heritage.
Conservation architecture is about more than restoring the fabric of buildings and can be instrumental in helping to shape the identity and spirit of a community. Many of our projects enable us to engage with diverse groups and we are immensely proud of our collaborations with people who are redefining the role that heritage can play in an accessible, inclusive future.
Purcell grew out of the post-war conservation movement in response to the speed at which buildings were being demolished and replaced.
Over seventy-five years later, the world is on a path to climate catastrophe. In that time, Purcell has evolved into the largest team of heritage experts working in architecture, with offices throughout the UK, Australia and Hong Kong. We understand more than ever that conserving, reusing and extending what already exists and making new buildings that will last for generations are essential for the future of the planet.
We have committed to the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge, are signatories to Architects’ Declare in the UK and Australia, and Heritage Declares. We are holding ourselves accountable to these targets by measuring our net-zero carbon progress.
Today, our reputation is as much for the quality and craftsmanship of new buildings as it is for our expertise in adapting and renewing the old. We do both by blending traditional skills and knowledge with the latest thinking around sustainable retrofit and construction methods.
Our attention to detail and materials underpins our belief that approaches to sustainability are intrinsically linked to understanding and respecting building materials and performance whilst continuing to evolve traditional skills.
Heritage innovation
We believe that true innovation goes hand in hand with the continued evolution of traditional skills. These skills have stood the test of time, continually developing and refining them over the years, and form the bedrock of our practice. We combine this knowledge with innovative technology.
Our in-house Building Information Management (BIM) specialists have earned international recognition as pioneers in harnessing this technology for the unique domain of heritage architecture (HBIM).
Our approach fuses digital technology and traditional skills. We integrate BIM tools in our workflow, allowing us to model, document and manage heritage sites and structures with precision and efficiency.
We are embracing Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) to augment our decision-making processes. We recognise that the power of human knowledge, cultivated through generations of experience, is invaluable. Combined with the intelligence and datadriven capabilities of technology, we can make even more informed choices.
Our global project reach
Education shapes us into the people we become. So do the buildings in which we learn and work. We design first-class learning facilities that inspire young people and encourage their growth, learning and development.
From repairing and restoring historic buildings to the creation of cutting-edge facilities, we design exceptional educational spaces that reflect the university’s unique culture, community and philosophy.
ST CATHERINE’S COLLEGE, OXFORD
Location University of Oxford
Client St Catherine’s College
Expertise Design, Heritage Consultancy, Masterplanning, Planning and Consents
Listed status Grade I, Grade II
St Catherine’s College is one of 38 constituent colleges that make up the University of Oxford. Constructed in 1960 by Arne Jacobsen, St Catherine’s is one of the newer colleges, and has since had two significant phases of expansion, including two phases by Stephen Hodder in the early 1990s and 2000s.
Purcell’s design creates a £10m contemporary addition for the college’s graduate student community that provides a complementary accompaniment to Arne Jacobsen’s original campus design and Stephen Hodder’s later phases of development.
“It has been a real pleasure to work collaboratively on the design with Purcell and to watch them negotiate all the challenges that the process threw up, with imagination, tact, finesse and a healthy dose of common sense. Thank you for what has turned out to be a wonderfully elegant and finely executed project.”
- Fram Dinshaw, former Bursar at St Catherine’s College
Purcell delivered the extension to the student accommodation pavilion which replicated Hodder’s original design but with key upgrades, including a central corridor and lifts that were introduced to ensure that the pavilions are accessible to all and reconciling the design to meet and exceed modern building regulations. The extension provides 78 ensuite bedrooms, four being accessible, and nine pantries. The client is very happy with the result saying that the reaction from the College community has been ‘overwhelmingly positive’ and praises the project as ‘wonderfully elegant and finely executed’.
The new graduate centre, designed by Purcell, maximises the potential of the constrained site, which sits in Oxford’s green belt and flood zone. The cylindrical threestorey structure responds to both Jacobsen’s original masterplan and Hodder’s distinctive pavilions.
The project comprises the complete refurbishment and aims to ensure the protection of the building while sensitive new elements were incorporated where appropriate so that this wonderful structure continues to sit at the heart of St Antony’s for many years to come. To facilitate the build process temporary buildings housed the kitchens, dining hall and common rooms.
By working closely with the building and understanding the nature of both this, and similar concrete twentieth century structures, Purcell have expertly resolved design and conservation challenges, gaining listed building consent for positive change. We commissioned and managed a series of specialist and intrusive surveys to further understand the construction and establish the existence ceiling voids, existing penetrations, and floor make-ups.
Location Oxford
Client St Antony’s College
Expertise
Conservation Architecture, Heritage Consultancy
Listed status Grade II
Arguably one of the most visually striking buildings on campus, the Hilda Besse is described as having every part related to another; the faceted concrete cladding of the exterior encapsulates the family of partitions within it.
The building contains all of the core college social spaces, including the dining hall, bar and common rooms. It also contains the college kitchens, and maintenance stores.
ST JOHN’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
Location University of Cambridge
Client St John’s College
Expertise Conservation, Architecture, Planning and Consents
Listed status Grade I, Grade II*
Founded in 1511, St John’s is one of the largest colleges at Cambridge University. Purcell was appointed as conservation architect on multiple projects.
The £6m full refurbishment and extension of the Maufe Building was delivered across three sub-phases, comprising student rooms with en-suite kitchen and shower rooms, and enclosing part of the colonnade to improve security. A new health centre and IT Department were created, whilst fabric upgrades improved passive ventilation and M&E.
We refurbished the south-west corner of Second Court buildings, replacing the adjoining 1970s Buttery Dining Room with a contemporary, flexible social space.
This £8m project championed sustainability through enhancements to the historic fabric improving insulation and air tightness, and reservicing with energy efficient systems. Furthermore, a series of refurbishment and accessibility improvements to the Grade I listed ‘New Court’ buildings created fellows’ accommodation that met modern living expectations. The £2.9m project included the creation of Part M (DDA) compliant access within the Grade I listed building.
UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX, COLCHESTER
The refurbishment has largely included the introduction of new laboratory environments across disciplines within the biology and health and human sciences departments. Our design has included creating flexible laboratories and teaching suites that encourage interaction and cross fertilisation of ideas supplemented by individual, specialist laboratory environments.
The refurbishments involved rigorous coordination with building services engineering creating cold rooms, and containment laboratories.
The impact on users and wider University Estate (which remained in full operational use throughout) was reduced where possible, including working around term times. Our scheme also implemented several innovative design solutions to reduce embodied carbon, carbon production and energy use in the existing buildings.
Location Wivenhoe Campus, Colchester
Client The University of Essex
Expertise Architecture, Principal Designer Services
Listed status Grade II
The University of Essex has undertaken a phased refurbishment of existing laboratories and teaching spaces within their Biological and Health and Human Sciences departments, located in E Block of their original 1960s estate at their Wivenhoe Campus.
Between 2015 and 2020, Purcell were appointed via the University’s professional services framework to lead a multidisciplinary design team comprising architecture, building services and structural engineering. Following the expiration of the framework, our services on latter stages of the refurbishment continued as a direct appointment.
“Having worked with Purcell for many years we have a good and productive working relationship and they deliver many different challenging projects. Led by Peter, their team works with academic clients who have no design/ construction knowledge and elicit briefs from feasibility study, design to overall project delivery.”
- Michael Willis, Senior Project Manager, University of Essex
Location University of Northampton
Client University of Northampton
Expertise Conservation Architecture, Heritage Consultancy, Regeneration, Sustainability
Listed status Grade II
Purcell’s complex rescue to support MCW’s transformation of a dilapidated Victorian engine shed has created a functional, BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rated space for The University of Northampton’s Student Union, whilst sensitively preserving the building’s railway heritage.
The historic shed, along with the adjacent office building, houses a café/bar, charities and societies including cinema club, student welfare, and student support nightline. The project also involved the reinstatement of the external envelope of the Grade II listed, fire damaged and derelict shed.
“We were delighted that, as a part of this larger project, we could save this important historic local building and bring it back into use for the benefit of our students and the wider community... The standard of the restoration carried out is second to none.”
- Simon Badcock, Project Manager, University of Northampton
The design proposal for the Engine Shed and office introduces the use of a limecrete floor slab, lining of the existing external walls using lime hemp insulation, and retaining and repairing the existing polychrome brickwork façade. In addition, the replacement of the existing roof and reinstatement of the ventilator detail provides a passive ventilation solution that ties in with the project’s aim for a sustainable design strategy.
The Students’ Union is housed in a large multi-use volume,
The multi-use space is supported by ancillary facilities in a contemporary free-standing box housing WCs, meeting rooms and plant spaces, and was designed to retain the impressive open volumes.
Location Mile End, London
Client Queen Mary University of London (QMUL)
Expertise Architecture
Building period 20th century
The Central Library at QMUL’s Mile End campus provides accommodation for student study, seminars, staff offices and book stacks. Incremental modifications over the past 30 years had seen many new functions added to the building, some of which were not aligned with the building’s primary purpose of being a library, home to quiet study, and the space had become overcrowded.
In 2019, Purcell were commissioned to review the existing library facilities and produce a building-wide masterplan to address the evolution of self-led learning styles, and the projected increase in student admissions over the forthcoming decade.
The brief included a two-storey rooftop extension creating flexible student study spaces. It was a challenging brief given that the library was always open to students and the spatial constraints of the campus meant that decanting the library was not feasible; a well-planned, phased approach was required.
The refurbishment of the ground floor focused on increasing student flow into and through the building, improving wayfinding and accommodating innovative student-staff interface arrangements. The refurbishment of the upper floors have sympathetically enhanced the reading rooms with a focus on improving the interior finishes and enhancing user comfort. The new rooftop extension is a lightweight, two storey element that provides flexible study spaces arranged around a central double height space, lit by a large rooflight at fourth floor, dramatically expanding the library without increasing the building’s footprint.
“The facility looks absolutely fantastic inside and out. The design and construction are to the highest quality and will impress staff and students for years to come.”
- Richard Halsall, Assistant Director of Estates & Facilities, Queen Mary University of London
UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA, NORWICH
At the Student Support Services building, our team have undertaken a survey and report aiming to improve the building’s environmental control and performance. The UEA’s School of Computer Sciences was recently awarded the Centre for Doctoral Training, and to accommodate this change of use, Purcell are converting the D’Arcy Thompson room (located in the grade-II listed Lasdun Academic Teaching Wall) into a multifunctional space. Once this development is complete, it will be home to CDT research and its associated events, including workshops and hackathons, allowing its students to work in a flexible and collaborative manner.
Our involvement within a range of projects to improve the versatility and accessibility of campus space will allow the University of East Anglia to readapt its site for flexibility, while equipping them with an understanding of their site’s historic fabric and the future scope for change.
Location Norwich
Client University of East Anglia
Expertise
Conservation Architecture, Heritage Consultancy
Listed status Grade II, Grade II*
The University of East Anglia (UEA) occupies one of the best examples of Brutalist campus architecture. Designed by Sir Denys Lasdun and built in the 1960s, the estate includes numerous Grade II and II* listed buildings.
In 2019, Purcell were appointed as one of three architectural practices to the university’s framework and are delivering a number of refurbishment, adaptation and conservation projects across the site. Purcell’s work throughout the site will improve accessibility and flexibility while sensitively conserving its renowned Brutalist architecture.
“The project is immensely complex with many functional, technical, environmental, heritage and conservation issues in direct conflict, and/or considerable tension, with each other. Purcell’s insights and expertise have enabled the project team to engage with and understand heritage issues in a manner which builds respect for principles of conservation while enabling reasonable and necessary improvements in functionality to be proposed to meet the client’s and end users’ needs.”
- Bryan Thomas, CPD Projects (UEA)
Location Oxford
Client The Governing Body of Christ Church, Oxford
Expertise Conservation Architecture
Listed status Grade II*
Blue Boar Quad is a seminal, modernist hall of residence designed for Christ Church in 1968 by acclaimed British architects Powell & Moya.
Since completion, the building has been plagued by leaking roofs, cracking stone cladding and services failure. We were appointed to repair, refurbish and extend the Quad to provide a new lecture theatre, extra student accommodation, en suite bathrooms, new archive facilities and disabled access.
The Quad was being proposed for Grade II* listed status and a pre-existing scheme was found to be costly, invasive and unlikely to gain planning permission. We therefore needed to find a design to improve the building’s performance, maximise space, create development opportunities and gain statutory approval. Improving the thermal performance of the building fabric to minimise energy use and carbon production was central to the project brief. The project struck a balance between conservation principles and sustainable objectives.
The team’s conservation management plan and feasibility study concluded that repairs should be reduced to safeguard the listed fabric and release funds for new facilities, including a high performance 130seat lecture theatre and archive. A discrete additional floor of student rooms was created at roof level. Our key achievement was to ensure effective use of the budget to maximise the building’s value.
Location Oxford
Client The Governing Body of Christ Church, Oxford
Expertise Conservation Architecture, Heritage Consultancy, Planning and Consents
Listed status Grade I, Grade II*
Christ Church is one of the colleges of Oxford University and sits in the heart of the city. Founded in 1546, it offers a home and teaching space to over 600 students alongside the medieval cathedral of the Diocese of Oxford. With over 400,000 visitors per year, Christ Church is one of Oxford’s most-visited attractions.
Christ Church required improved visitor facilities and Purcell was appointed to provide full architectural services, heritage consultancy and project management for the full development.
“Purcell have been collaborating with Christ Church over the last 10 years and it has been a very successful partnership to date. The dedicated Purcell team are committed to providing an excellent service to Christ Church and we have established very good working relationships with the Oxford team.”
- Jon Down, House Surveyor, Christ Church
The brief for the new visitor centre at Christ Church, Oxford, was to provide improved facilities and visitor experience while having minimal impact on the historic setting, be of low cost, simple to build and easily maintainable. The project comprised of the conservation and re-use of a historic barn to provide a dedicated visitor centre alongside a new build development.
We embraced the unique thatched roof and saw it as a design opportunity, incorporating it into the new buildings. The resulting new-build timber barn now accommodates the landscape team who care for Christ Church’s grounds. The form of this new thatched barn and the works compound are simple and traditional. They sit in their context to appear as a series of pitchedroof buildings, which might have been extended and adapted over time.
CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD
Location Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Client Corpus Christi College
Expertise
The main challenge was delivering the project on site during term time and examination periods, thus it was vital for any construction to be respectful of daily functions. It was also established that the original floor structure of the lodge was not structurally sound, leading to extensive additional works.
To honour the college’s close knit community, interventions focused on improving accessibility and security in order to accommodate the increasing number of visitors. Storage solutions were integrated into partitions and joinery, allowing for an open reception area devoid of visible clutter. The restorations were sympathetic to the Lodge and its highly significant position as the gatekeepers for the college. Visual enhancements were employed, including use of natural materials and carefully crafted bespoke joinery. Several modern and detracting features and partitions were rationalized to enhance the character and history of the building.
Conservation Architecture, Design, Heritage Consultancy, Interior Design, Planning and Consents
Listed status Grade I, Conservation Area
Founded in 1517, Corpus Christi College offers a close knit community as the smallest college within the Oxford collegiate system. We were appointed to provide a variety of architectural and heritage consultancy services to ensure the historic and influential site was protected and enhanced.
The Porters’ Lodge is the primary entrance into the College and is the first point of contact for academics and visitors alike. The outdated and constricted interior space meant it was ill-equipped to cope with operational needs of multiple user groups and failed to convey openness to visitors.
