DESIGN

Nottingham Trent University’s brief to architect
Evans Vettori wastoreplace or modernise a
number of worn-out 1960s teaching buildings on
an unpromising site to provide state-of-the-art
spaces. A‘front door’and student ‘heart’ to the
campus wererequested, and the buildings wereto
be highly sustainableand low-energy.
The new socialcentre–the Pavilion –is
augmented by anew teaching building, set at right
angles. By relating these to an existing lecture
theatrebuilding, on thehypotenuse, atriangular
Plaza iscreated, forming afocal point to the
campus and providing coherence to thesite.
The Pavilion is raised on asheltered, south-facing
plinth with viewsacross the plaza. Precast concrete
roof vaults providethermal mass and asense of
permanence, while the wallscomprise redand
grey brick, reflecting the local context. The main
north-south and east-west pedestrian routes are
defined by colonnades.
The 2,000-square-metrePavilion formsanew front
doortothe campus, providing acentral building
for students with large andsmallspaces for
collaborative learning and social interaction. The
colonnade concept was generated by the primary
east-west pedestrianroute, and it shades thesouthfacing
facade. The structureturns at the west end,
formingacovered bridge which accesses the three
new lecturetheatres and defines the ‘quad’, with a
new entrance to the library.
The groundfloor is mainlygivenover to the
Forum–aflexible,high-quality,IT-rich space for
meeting and working in arelaxing, social
Above
The Forumoccupies the
maindouble-height space
within the Pavilion. Brick
study niches punctuate
the main facade.
Left
Preliminary sketches
showingthe Pavilion
section concept and the
Teaching Building fronted
by the extended loggia.
Right
The Pavilion addresses
the newcentral,triangular
Plaza. Location planand
ground-floorplan showing
the twonew buildings
aligning the Plaza.
8•IBSTOCK DESIGN •AUTUMN 2016