March 2008
Nicholas Hare Architects are celebrating thirty years in practice with
the completion of their latest education project in London. Golden Lane
Campus, is adjacent to the Grade II listed Barbican Centre and involves
the relocation and integration of three successful schools onto a single,
complex site in Islington.
Golden Lane Campus brings together the primary department of Richard Cloudesley
School, for children with physical disabilities, Prior Weston Primary
School, Fortune Park Nursery, and Surestart Early Years Centre.
Nicholas Hare Architects (NHA) were appointed following a design competition
in March 2005 and set out to design an innovative and inclusive education
campus on a site that has a strong architectural and planning legacy.
The vision behind the amalgamation of the three institutions on one site
is based on a commitment to inclusive education for all and removing barriers
to achievement.
Founding partner, Nicholas Hare says, “The firm’s continuing
success is the result of a commitment to imaginative but practical design
solutions and the unique collaboration between the architects, their clients,
consultants and contractors.”
Hare has maintained a fruitful relationship with the education sector
throughout his career. After studying Natural Sciences and English at
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, he studied architecture at Liverpool
University and University College, London. Since then he has acted as
a Visiting Lecturer, external examiner and consultant architect to various
universities. Although their practice includes a wide range of typologies,
the practice’s educational projects are a significant highlight in
their catalogue.
Golden Lane Campus in particular, is one of the many Nicholas Hare Architect’s
schemes that fully reflects the principles which guide their approach
to an expanding range of design challenges: the importance of context;
sustainability; natural light; delight in construction and orientation.
The importance of context
This applies both to the physical context of a project – its ‘sense
of place’ – and to the context established by the client’s
own aspirations. Nicholas Hare Architects believe that a design should
be responsive to both of these, rather than arising from overwhelming
design prejudice. This is the reason why their projects may appear quite
different from each other, although guided by consistent principles.
The Education Centre for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
is an excellent example of where their design solution has successfully
melded the existing space (a garden) with a new space (the Education Centre)
to create a unique place. The project was awarded the Civic Trust Award
in 2002 as well as Concrete Society’s overall award for outstanding
structure.
Sustainability
Concern for the environment is central to their work, ranging from the
siting of buildings to the selection of materials and from energy efficiency
to controlling waste. For example, at the Learning resources Centre for
Wye College (awarded a 1997 RIBA Award) the building is sited to allow
existing rows of pleached trees to provide shading from sunshine in summer
but admit it to warm the building in winter.
At the headquarters building for the Royal Veterinary College, Nicholas
Hare Architects pioneered the use of ground coupling for heating and cooling
in conjunction with displacement ventilation, while the Student Services
Centre at Southampton university (2007 RIBA Award) uses photovoltaic cells
to filter light into the atrium as well as generate electricity.
Natural light
The imaginative use of natural light is fundamental to the expression
and enjoyment of interior space. It is a vital part of reducing energy
use, since in most modern buildings artificial lighting represents a high
proportion of energy cost. NHA try to make this a general rule that we
should not need to switch lights on during normal daylight. This can have
profound implications for building form, as well as contributing to both
economy and delight.
Their Collège Doctoral Européen for the University of Strasbourg,
completed in 2007, is a recent achievement of this design principal. The
curved atrium adheres to both the site’s building restrictions and
provides ample natural light to both the public and private spaces.
Delight in construction
One aspect of the language of architecture which NHA enjoys is the direct
expression of the means of construction of buildings. This implies expressing
the essential nature of the various materials, such as massive masonry
walls, slender steel ties, taut panels of glass, as well as carefully
articulating the joints between them.
For example, the Research and Development HQ for Nokia (UK) Ltd. in Farnborough
boasts a wide range of materials in a variety of juxtapositions. Completed
in 1999, their scheme realized a number of complex, high-tech solutions
that involved a large amount of specialist equipment to facilitate the
building’s programme.
Orientation
Most of us need help in finding our way around places and buildings. In
design terms this means imagining what it will be like to inhabit the
spaces we are designing and specifically relating circulation routes to
spaces so that our sense of orientation is reinforced. It also suggests
a comprehensible relationship between primary and secondary spaces and
routes. All this implies a measure of spatial clarity which has nothing
to do with symmetry or repetition; it is strengthened by variation and
a sense of discovery or even surprise – and it is enhanced by the
treatment of light, sound and materials.
These principles are set out in a new practice brochure designed by Studio
fernando gutiérrez being published to coincide with their thirty
years celebration. These will be made available at their celebration on
Thursday 6 March at Golden Lane Campus.
Golden Lane Campus context
: The Barbican Centre
In 2004, Nicholas Hare Architects became a limited liability partnership:
three longstanding colleagues, Paul Baxter, Carol Lelliott and Jayne Bird
joined Nicholas and Sophie Hare as partners. The practice is organized
in open studios. Teams are formed for each project and each team has a
designated project leader. Today, the practice numbers about 50 people
and continues to grow organically.
Golden
Lane Estate + Barbican Centre : Chamberlin, Powell and Bon
Barbican Centre context
: Moorgate
London Architects
Barbican Centre : Museum
of London, southwest corner of Barbican Centre complex:
World Architecture : e-architect
- a guide to key buildings across the globe
London Buildings
Comments / photos for Golden Lane Campus Architecture page welcome:
info@e-architect.co.uk
Golden Lane Campus - page:
adrian welch / isabelle lomholt