Tvarijonas

View Original

Somerville College Window Seat

  • Somerville, Oxford, was originally a women-only college built on the outskirts of a city, like an outlaw at times when women in higher education were uncommon.

  • Radcliffe Infirmary was moved to the area, creating a push for redevelopment. In 2003 the expansion was halted, moving the hospital to the suburbs and selling land to the university.

  • 2005 Rafael Viñoly Architects were commissioned to masterplan (highly criticized scheme).

  • Mathematical Institute (Vinoly), School of Government (Herzog de Meuron) are being added nearby.

1:500 elevation

  • Designed by Níall McLaughlin Architects, built in 2011.

  • New access to the university campus, four stair towers as gates/points of reference. 12 m wide new entrance done by demolishing existing boundary wall.

  • Strip 7.5 m wide - a single row of rooms with a connecting corridor.

  • Many elements are prefabricated to fit the university’s schedule and have minimum study disturbance, i.e., bay windows, brick piers.

  • Communal facilities are recessed, giving rhythm to the building.

  • Weak ground level interface with the street.

1:200 plan

1:200 elevation/section

  • Key feature: timber bay windows on the brick facade.

  • Modern answer to 1960s brutalist building on campus (ARUP): Fry, Vaughan and later Wolfson building.

  • North orientation, but protruding geometry catch the sun in evenings and mornings. Bay windows are fixed, but shutters are operable for ventilation - 100 mm gap per regulations.

1:100 plan

1:100 plan Vaughan Building 1960s (for comparison)

  • Solid brick was initially proposed for the top of towers but (thankfully) changed to timber after Council’s protest.

  • Rear wall is left in concrete as it faces the boundary. Texture was added to make corridors more inviting (using latex moulds).

  • Red brick matched to existing in the college — a victorian tradition of using them for institutional buildings.

1:50 plan

1:20 plan

1:20 longitudinal section

1:20 transverse section