University Architecture

With a slew of exciting and innovative new buildings appearing on university campuses all over the UK, UB takes a look at some of the most impressive and award winning examples of recent years in this country and throughout the world, and asks how good building can improve the fortunes of a university on a wider scale.

Aside from the clear aesthetic advantages, wise choices in this area should not be underestimated in their possible effect on the choices of university made by prospective students. Lancaster University’s Director of Estate Management, Mark Swindlehurst believes thoughtful new buildings are key in attracting undergraduates “This new, eco-friendly accommodation will help us to attract increasing numbers of students from across the UK and internationally. Importantly, it has been designed as an environment that will encourage ‘good habits’ in terms of sustainable living, day-to-day. The design process has been exemplary, with students, colleges, the University and UPP working together to design the very best student accommodation. It is designed and built more sustainably, it is cheaper to build than conventional construction methods, resulting in lower rents to students, and it will use less energy in operation. We’re proud to be setting this standard for future best practice.”
Many universities are building with the primary objective of improving recruitment – of both staff and students – by counteracting what are perceived to be the negative connotations of their location. Notable examples of such thinking have resulted in award winning architecture at the Universities of Sunderland, Portsmouth and Gloucester, where the building objective was “To establish a credible, high quality presence in Gloucester and the poorer west of the county to counteract the University’s perceived bias towards Cheltenham”
It appears that while course content and cost remain the prime factors in student choice, as found in a 1998 study undertaken by the Institute of Employment Studies, buildings and their design are still ‘a significant variable’. More recently, in 2001, an ongoing UNITE/MORI poll found that ‘location’ and ‘social facilities’ comprised the second and third most important influences in choice.
Notably however, the Design with Distinction study into the value of good building design in Higher Education by CABE, (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) found that ‘where universities possessed a particularly distinctive campus (and/or location), the survey results clearly indicated that this was a marketing lever…issues such as computer outlets in accommodation were important for prospective students, alongside concerns with library facilities and the availability of quiet areas.’ Not only does this indicate that the look of a building plays a significant role, but the importance that functionality must not be compromised as a result.
The University of Essex, won the Best University Halls award this year in the National Student Housing Survey. The survey, which attracted 9000 responses from more than 80 universities and colleges, measures satisfaction levels in all types of accommodation. The University Quays, a student accommodation complex, part of the Colchester campus, housing 770 students, opened in September 2003. Essex University continue to invest in architecture throughout their campuses, also winning a RIBA award for the Ivor Crew lecture hall on the Colchester campus, despite being described by the Prince of Wales as looking ‘like a dustbin’.
Perhaps most importantly of all, once on campus, will buildings that work better translate to better working students and therefore better results? Imperial College, whose library has recently undergone extensive renovation, (Parkeray) winning a Gold award from the Association of Interior Specialists, is certain of the benefits that a pleasant and functional working environment brings to students. Imperial’s Rector, Sir Roy Anderson comments, “Libraries are in many ways the heart of a university’s campus and they are certainly of considerable importance to students. We cannot expect students to flourish on our demanding courses if we do not provide high quality facilities
that support their study.”
The notion that the relationship between learning environments and effectiveness of study is not only applicable, but also key to success. The CABE report cites a study by T. Griffin on The Physical Environment and its Effects on Students; Griffin (1990) introduced person-environment interaction theory, which investigates the impact of a variety of physical attributes upon people’s behavior, finding that a number of significant physical environmental factors contribute. He found that, in general, less crowded spaces, which offer each person more room, produced less stress. He also found that colour tended to impact upon people’s behavior. The impact of open space classrooms has also been found to influence attitudes of students and teachers, namely that teachers attitudes are more positive, and attitudes towards their students improved significantly. One study featured in the CABE report even went so far as to say that ‘Teachers in open-space areas exhibited behaviors that allowed greater pupil freedom and self-direction.’
Whether a matter of necessity or otherwise, it is interesting to note that while students have identified that structural and functional features, including the quality of facilities, the library, sports centre and lecture rooms being those that exert most influence, the majority of staff identified cosmetic and environmental features as being most influential. Furthermore, students from throughout the UK suggested that the quality of teaching had less influence than the facilities. Clearly, a delicate balance must be maintained between the perception of both staff and students when building is undertaken, while taking care to project the best image for your institution. UB