Cranfield University - String Fellow Hall

We were asked to provide cost-effective but high quality and inspiring accommodation for 250 mature post graduate students who have high expectations of student life. From appointment in April 2006, we needed to design, construct and complete the project by January 2008.

The design creates a sense of community by building a ‘village’ of five, five-storey residential blocks around a landscaped, outdoor space. The bedrooms are positioned to enjoy morning or evening sun with floor to ceiling windows and vents for natural ventilation. One block is equipped with roof-top solar panels. Costs and construction time were minimised by standardising elements with a tunnel-form concrete frame, modular brick cladding and pre-fabricated shower room pods. The interior provides practical, and high quality en-suite rooms and kitchens that are low maintenance, easy to clean and durable, drawing in light from windows at the end of each corridor. Timber was used externally to link with the landscape. The groups of buildings are related to their rural setting and the rest of the campus by encouraging a route through a series of courtyards, ‘outside rooms’ and raised terraces, using low maintenance planting.

Built on a tight programme with limited budget, the project sets a high standard for student accommodation. The group of buildings provide a secure and inspiring environment that will encourage students to study, relax and socialise.