BDP marries old and new for Learning and Teaching Building at the University of Strathclyde City Centre Campus.

BDP has delivered a new Learning and Teaching Building for the University of Strathclyde City Centre Campus, alongside retrofitting existing facilities.

The 20,000 sqm project saw the stripping out and refurbishment of two existing buildings, the Colville Building and B-listed Architecture Building, and the creation of a new-build hub in between overlooking the University’s Rottenrow Gardens.

The new non-departmental facility comprises a variety of learning and teaching environments, ranging from small breakout to a 400 seat lecture theatre. It also houses Student Support Services and the Student Union, providing staff and students with a one stop central facility.

The University of Strathclyde were lacking large capacity teaching spaces, social learning spaces and an identifiable home for Student Services. There was a need for these facilities to further enhance the Student Experience whilst also taking the opportunity to consolidate building stock, increase utilisation and address backlog maintenance.

A site options appraisal was undertaken. The adaptive re-use of the existing Colville (which historically housed the Engineering Department) and Architecture Buildings emerged as the preferred option. These buildings sat prominently in the centre of the Campus adjacent to Rottenrow Gardens and their potential was exciting, however they were under-utilised and required maintenance and upgrading to make them fit for purpose learning and teaching spaces.

Consultations were held with identified user groups at each stage to develop the brief, fostering a shared ownership with the end users. A variety of methods were used, including Virtual Reality technology, in order to best explain the emerging ideas and ensure understanding. The University Engineering and Architecture Departments also made site visits to view progress and meet the Design Team and Main Contractor and ask questions they had about the Project or the wider construction industry.

The Architecture Building underwent a sympathetic upgrade retaining its original listed character. The Colville Building was stripped back to its structural frame with large volume spaces being created; the history of the structure exposed and celebrated. The robust character of the 1960’s concrete frame allowed some radical interventions, including the cutting back of the first floor to transform an under croft car park into a dramatic new home for the Strath Union, new voids to incorporate stairs and the addition of a new glazed extension including dramatic social steps.

The scheme contributes positively to Campus Life. Having previously been an imposing and closed building form, the new glazed extension to the Colville Building now provides a vibrant ‘window over the university’ showcasing Student Life and, along with the adjacent Rottenrow Gardens, provides a home for the University’s community at the heart of the Campus, demonstrating a commitment to the continual enhancement of the Student Experience.

The University’s decision to promote the transformation of the existing buildings, rather than a new-build project, provided clear sustainability benefits, said BDP: the embodied energy of the development was reduced significantly through the adaptive re-use of the existing building structure.

The Learning and Teaching Building is also said to be proving incredibly popular with students, and shows that a building need not have heritage characteristics to justify its retrofit. Institutions across the UK have multitude examples of similar post-war buildings on their estates; this is a typology which has previously been undervalued. The Learning and Teaching Building demonstrates a viable, academically exciting, and sustainable future for this flexible building typology. Bravo, BDP.