Homerton College Cambridge Building Competition

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Homerton College Cambridge Building Competition News

English Collegiate Architecture Contest, UK – design by various architects, England

13 Sep 2016

Homerton College Cambridge Design Competition 2016 News

Homerton College Competition Long-list

Long-list of 24 architects released by competition organisers, Malcolm Reading Consultants

Homerton College, Cambridge revealed that 155 architects applied to be considered for the long-list in the design competition to select a team for its emblematic £7m centrepiece building to house a new 300-person dining hall.

Homerton College Cambridge Design Competition

4 Aug 2016

Homerton College Cambridge Design Competition

Homerton College design competition for emblematic centrepiece building

Homerton College, Cambridge appoints Malcolm Reading Consultants to run design competition for emblematic centrepiece building.

Architects encouraged to send a ‘declaration of interest’ to be considered for the long-list.

Homerton College, Cambridge is set to launch a design competition for an emblematic £7m centrepiece building to house a new 300-person dining hall.

Homerton College, Cambridge:
Homerton College Cambridge
photo courtesy wikimedia commons

The competition will be run by international competition specialist, Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC). MRC is currently running the high-profile Illuminated River International Design Competition and recently ran the global competitions for the Museum of London and Tintagel Castle Bridge.

The competition is a hybrid model – combining the advantages of a streamlined invited contest with a wider call for fresh talent. Interested architects are encouraged to send a ‘declaration of interest’ to be considered for inclusion on the long-list (details below).

Homerton, which has one of the largest student communities at Cambridge, is currently undertaking a series of development projects to improve facilities for students and staff. The College is gifted with an extremely attractive and arboreal 25 acre campus, which includes Gothic Revival, Arts and Crafts, Modernist and contemporary buildings; it is one of the few Cambridge colleges able to house all undergraduates on-site for four years.

Homerton College Building
image © MRC/Alex Ramsay

Deborah Griffin OBE, Homerton College bursar, said:

‘We have appointed Malcolm Reading Consultants to search for a design team to create a spectacular building that will be a unique landmark on our campus.

‘We are fortunate in having an expansive leafy site away from the centre of the city, and this project will release the potential of the grounds and honour the College.

‘In recent years, Homerton has become increasingly known for its sociable and friendly atmosphere – we are ambitious to express this in our architecture, to have a building that reflects the College’s values and energies.’

The Cavendish Building at Homerton College Cambridge
The Cavendish Building Homerton College Cambridge
photo courtesy wikimedia commons

Malcolm Reading, architect and chairman, Malcolm Reading Consultants, said:

‘This is a fascinating project because it reflects a contemporary preoccupation shared by many leading organisations: how to balance the formal with the informal? The College is seeking a team that can create spaces that encourage everyday sociability and serendipitous connections, and also distinguish set-piece ceremonial events.’

MRC is working closely with the College to draw up a long-list of up to 25 practices; these will receive the Search Statement document and will be invited to submit a written Expression of Interest.

Subsequently, the College and its advisers will make a selection of five to six practices to proceed to the second stage of the competition to prepare design concepts. These teams will be interviewed and a winner selected.

Malcolm Reading continued:

‘We are always looking for fresh talent; we value appetite and enthusiasm, so any architect specially drawn to this project, who has the relevant experience, skills and team, is welcome to get in touch with us now in order to be considered for the long-list. While we respect architects’ panache and confidence, please note this offer does not guarantee you a place automatically.’

The focus for the competition is a new 300-person dining hall and supporting facilities, including kitchen and back-office areas. Aesthetic impact and functionality are of equal importance in the project. The new dining hall will have a direct relationship with the landscape around as well as the contiguous buildings. Key design themes for the second stage of the competition will encompass land use and landscape, access and movement, integration of uses, infrastructure and services, and outstanding environmental performance. The appointed design team will need to collaborate with the design team working on a parallel project to renovate the existing Gothic Revival Great Hall and the links to the new one.

Construction for the 1,400 sqm project is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2018.

Interested architects should write to MRC care of [email protected] – sending a short ‘declaration of interest’, explaining why they should be considered, by August 19, 2016.

Homerton College Building
image © MRC/Alex Ramsay

Homerton College Cambridge

Homerton College, Cambridge is the newest and largest of the 31 Cambridge Colleges, having received its Royal Charter in 2010. The College’s history dates back to 1768, and it has been located in Cambridge since the 1890s (and in Homerton, London, before that).

The College is located in beautiful, wooded grounds just outside the busy city centre. The campus includes a collection of Victorian, Arts and Crafts and more modern buildings. A new 112 graduate accommodation building will be completed in September 2016. The spacious grounds include squash courts, football fields, and an orchard.

In recent years, the College has embarked on an ambitious Estates Strategy, focused on improving and updating its existing facilities, including rebuilding or refurbishing student accommodation. Unlike the majority of Cambridge colleges, Homerton is able to offer on-site accommodation for undergraduates for four years.

Homerton has a reputation for friendliness, approachability and inclusivity – with a mission based on partnership with the University to serve the needs of society.

The College has a thriving Students Union for both undergraduates and graduates, offering many different sports, clubs and societies. Unique among Cambridge colleges in founding a famous football club, every year Homerton students play against Leyton Orient Supporters Club for the Challenge Trophy in celebration of the founding of the club in 1881.

Website: Homerton College, Cambridge

Malcolm Reading Consultants

Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) is a strategic consultancy specialising in the selection of contemporary designers. MRC believes in the power of design to create new perceptions and act as an inspiration – either at the local level, or internationally.
MRC is the leading specialist in design competitions in Europe. Recent work includes competitions for the Museum of London, the gold medal-winning UK Pavilion at Milan Expo 2015, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the Illuminated River Foundation, Tintagel Castle Bridge, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s Culture & Education Quarter, the Mumbai City Museum, the Natural History Museum and New College, Oxford.

Homerton College Building
image © MRC/Alex Ramsay
Website: Malcolm Reading Consultants

Homerton College in Cambridge

Homerton College – buildings by RMJM + BDP Architects

Phase One Student Accommodation
Architect: RMJM Cambridge

Homerton College Building
building image © Adrian Welch, 1996

Project Architect up to Planning: Adrian Welch, Editor of e-architect (also, my Aunt was at Homerton in the sixties)

Teaching college located quite far south of the city centre

Faculty of Education
Architect: Building Design Partnership

Location: Hills Road, next to Mary Allan building, Homerton College

Homerton College Faculty of Education Building
photo © Martine Hamilton Knight

Address: Homerton College, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 8PH, England

Homerton College architects- Student Accommodation : RMJM Architects

Location: Homerton College, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 8PH, UK

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Another recent Malcolm Reading Consultants architecture competition on e-architect:

Museum of London West Smithfield Design Competition
West Smithfield Design Competition Proposals
image from architects

Illuminated River International Design Competition

Website: Homerton College Cambridge

Homerton College Cambridge Building Photos © Adrian Welch

Cambridge University Department of Architecture Extension
Design: Mole Architects
Cambridge University Department of Architecture
photograph : David Butler
Cambridge University School of Architecture

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