UNlVERSlTY TRENDS

CONTEMPORARY JONATHAN COULSON

PAUL ROBERTS
THIRD EDITION

CAMPUS DESlGN lSABELLE TAYLOR

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 Cover image: Thapar Institute, Christian Richters/Mccullough Mulvin Architects

Third edition published 2023

by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2023 Jonathan Coulson, Paul Roberts and Isabelle Taylor

The right of Jonathan Coulson, Paul Roberts and Isabelle Taylor to be identifed
as authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or

utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known
or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
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Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or

registered trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and explanation
without intent to infringe.

Publisher’s Note
This book has been prepared from camera-ready copy provided by the authors.

First edition published by Routledge 2015

Second edition published by Routledge 2018

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A catalog record has been requested for this book

ISBN: 978-0-367-26432-1 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-429-29323-8 (ebk)

DOI: 10.4324/9780429293238

Typeset in Bell Gothic

by Draught Design

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A large number of people have contributed to and

assisted in the realisation of this book. To all those
who gave their time and help we extend our thanks.
Many universities and architectural practices
provided invaluable help in compiling information
and images. Special thanks go to Adam Pustola
(Lyons), Alain Boilard (Université de Montréal),
Alister Kratt (LDA), Amelia Brown, Andrew Parr
and Janet Teasdale (University of British Columbia),
Anik Shooner, Catherine Bélanger and Larry
O’shaughnessy (MSDL), Bart Valks (TU Delft), Bob
Schaeffner and Karen Robichaud (Payette), Cees
van der Wolf and Joyce ten Holter (Universiteit van
Amsterdam), Colin Koop (SOM), David Bickle, Tom
Noonan and Michael Riebel (Hawkins\Brown), Dennis
Pieprz (Sasaki), Ewan Anderson (7N Architects),
Frank Werner (KCAP), Freyke Hartemink (HOH
Architecten), Gregory Hoss and Steve Knight (David
Schwarz Architects), James Allison (Bennetts
Associates), Jan van Spieke (MVS Architects),
Jim Bean (Northeastern University), Jim Curtin
and Michael Thompson (Solomon Cordwell Buenz),
Joe Tattoni (ikon.5 architects), Jon Cattapan
(University of Melbourne), Juliane Wolf, Maciej
Kaczynski, Alissa Anderson (Studio Gang), Katie
Faulkner (NADAAA), Katie Kasabalis, Laurence
van Benthem and Moritz Prophet (Ector Hoogstad
Architecten), Dr Leo Groarke and Marilyn Burns
(Trent University), Luke Johnson (Architectus),
Marion Weiss, Michael Manfredi and Heather
McArthur (Weiss/Manfredi), Michel Leenders
(Leiden Universiteit), Mike Kilbride (University
of Central Florida), Paul Milliner (University of
Cambridge), Richard Clarke (EYP), Richard Kirk
(KIRK), Rod Duncan (JM Architects), Steve Teeple
(Teeple Architects), Steven Poliri (University of
Edinburgh), Todd Schliemann and Jarrett Pelletier
(Ennead Architects), Valerie Mulvin (McCullough
Mulvin Architects), and Yuk Ming Lam (AHMM).
Acknowledgements also go to Dave Gibson of
Draught Design for designing the book.

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 4 UNIVERSITY TRENDS

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 CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 3

PREFACE 6

ONE
The Twenty-First-Century Campus 8

TWO
1. Adaptive Reuse 66
2. Student Hubs 84
3. Housing 98
4. Interdisciplinarity 112
5. Central Learning and Teaching Buildings 126
6. Innovation 140
7. Urbanity 158
8. Large-Scale Campus Expansions 172
9. Beyond the West 186
10. Revitalising Master Plans 200

Notes 214
Picture Credits 215
Index 216

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 PREFACE

The campus has a deep-rooted prestige as a place of teaching, learning and nurturing. Conjuring
images of cloistered quadrangles, of sunny lawns, of wood-panelled libraries cloaked in an ethereal
hush, it is a word viscerally charged with centuries of scholarly tradition. And yet it is also a place of
cutting-edge science, of youth, vibrancy and energy. It is this dual nature, this concurrent adherence
to tradition and innovation, which renders the physical environment of the university such a redolent,
enduring and dynamic realm. However, it also means that the twenty-frst-century campus is a
highly challenging and exacting landscape to design and manage successfully. A city in miniature, it
must continually respond to external political and fscal pressures, whilst simultaneously adapting to
changing pedagogies, technology and, more unexpectedly, global pandemics.

This book – the third edition in the University Trends: Contemporary Campus Design series – was
far through the writing process when Covid-19 struck. The virus’s tendrils have impacted upon
every aspect of society, but the disruption it has wreaked upon the higher education sector has been
enormous, rapid and indiscriminate. Restrictions on international travel reduced overseas student
mobility to naught; universities have been exposed to a range of associated fnancial shortfalls and
the costs of transitioning sharply to digital education. For the campus estate, maintenance work has
been left undone, capital projects have been suspended and some have been abandoned permanently.
Today’s higher education institutions (HEIs) are contending with a pressure-cooker situation of
enormous magnitude.

However, it would be naive to think there has ever been a ‘golden age’ for universities when they
were not facing societal demands and challenges. Even before the pandemic, answering the
administrative, pedagogic and fnancial demands of an HEI had become more exacting than
ever. Since publishing the frst edition of University Trends in 2014, the nexus of challenges that
is facing them has continued growing in complexity. Rising operational costs must be reconciled
with squeezed public spending; student demographics, and accordingly, needs are diversifying; and
pedagogic practices must keep pace with rapid technological progress. The roles and responsibilities
of the university is facing heightened scrutiny as attentions focus on delivering value for money as
well as impacting upon the public good, all against a backdrop of a climate change emergency and
intensifying competition for prestige, recognition and recruitment.

Past precedent, though, has proven universities to be tremendously adaptable entities, capable of
evolving to meet changing circumstances and expectations. And, whilst they are typically bound
by engrained traditions and organisational structures, they have used their spatial environment to
respond to conditions, refect ideologies and shape institutional identities. Over time, this evolution
has, as Michael Hebbert eloquently phrases it, left ‘traces in the physical fabric of universities,
making them palimpsests of cultural change’.

In the present age, the campus is once again reacting, evolving and innovating. University Trends
takes stock of this contemporary context of campus master planning and architecture. From an
international perspective, we explore how this is happening by reviewing recent master planning and
building projects. To ensure its relevance, this third edition focuses on up-to-date case studies from
the four years since the last edition of University Trends was published. Its objective is to identify
and outline the most widespread, consequential and dynamic design ‘trends’ that are shaping the
physical realm of higher education institutions across the world today, and those that look set to do
so in the future.

The book is divided into two sections. Part One establishes what we consider these trends to be,
organised into single-building typologies followed by master planning practices:

6 UNIVERSITY TRENDS

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 – Adaptive reuse
– Student hubs
– Housing
– Interdisciplinarity
– Central learning and teaching buildings
– Innovation
– Urbanity
– Large-scale campus expansions
– Revitalising master plans
– Beyond the West
– The intelligent campus

The list inevitably simplifes the complex and fecund developments within campus design by condensing
them into only 11 categories. We are not aspiring to an exhaustive inventory of all the building and
planning archetypes featuring within capital project schedules, neither is it a review of pedagogic or
market strategies within higher education. Our rationale has been to identify the most prominent, thought-
provoking or loaded building and master-planning typologies that are determining the physical environments
in which tertiary learning is taking place. The list of trends excludes, for instance, sustainability as a specifc
category. This is a criterion that is fundamental to almost every design and construction project at almost
every university across the globe. Rather than demarcate it as a specifc trend, we are interpreting the
application of sustainability principles as an unwritten canon.

Part One will end with a summary of the climate of campus design and a consideration of its priorities in
forthcoming years. Which of these trends will survive? How will they evolve? What will be the prime concerns
of those charged with shaping the built environment of higher education? We give a conjectural assessment.

In Part Two, the trends are illustrated in a series of case studies profling individual buildings and master
planning projects. (The exception is the intelligent campus, whose nature means it cannot neatly be illustrated
by single building or master planning schemes.) In this, the third edition in the series, the schemes are taken
from the four-year period 2017–20, being either completed, designed or, in the case of long-running master-
planning endeavours, having reached a signifcant milestone during this time span. Out of the countless master-
planning and building ventures recently or currently being undertaken by universities across the world, we only
have the scope here to feature but a small proportion. Many worthy or interesting projects are not featured,
but in those that did make the fnal cut we have attempted to embrace a comprehensive range in terms of
geography and scale, encompassing both the high profle and the less familiar.

It is important to note that the classifcations of the trends are not hard and fast, but fuid and fexible. The same
schemes may overlap one, two or more of the trends. For instance, the University of Oregon’s Knight Campus is
a hub for interdisciplinary science that will serve as a biotech incubator to accelerate global problem solving. It
also marks a three-building expansion for the University, meaning it crosses the ‘interdisciplinarity’, ‘innovation’
and ‘large-scale campus expansions’ pigeonholes. Similarly, the University of Amsterdam’s Institute of Advanced
Study falls into both the ‘adaptive reuse’ and the ‘interdisciplinarity’ categories; it is a research forum that
crosses disciplinary boundaries to answer complex questions created within two historic canal houses. This fuidity
itself speaks of the increasingly integrated, protean and hard-working nature of the campus.

We will close this preamble where we began – with a reassertion of the value of the campus as a physical place.
These multiplex institutions are truly growing more complex with every academic year that passes, engendering
a new repertoire of building typologies and planning priorities. Through its analysis of current schemes and its
meditation on the future, University Trends aspires to decoct this evolving and complicated, but rewarding feld.

UNIVERSITY TRENDS 7

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 ONE

8 UNIVERSITY TRENDS

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 THE TWENTY-FIRST-
CENTURY CAMPUS

UNIVERSITY TRENDS 9

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 CONTEXT Students are expecting wider access to technology than their
predecessors, and it is ushering in enormous shifts in learning
assumptions and teaching methodologies. The pandemic-induced
surge in online and blended course delivery has accelerated evolving
Since the founding of the frst universities 900 years ago, approaches to pedagogy and engagement that are, sometimes
institutions of higher education have given rise to some enthusiastically and sometimes hesitantly, replacing the time-
of the world’s most emotive, hallowed and formative old ‘sage on a stage’ with the ‘guide on the side’. The academic
physical environments. The idea of a university education is learning process is, for many disciplines and institutions, becoming
inviolably associated with the idea of place. The steps of the progressively student-centric, moving from an ‘instruction paradigm’
library, the examination halls where fnals are sat, the lawns to a ‘learning paradigm’ that prioritises meaningful and active
where lazy afternoons are spent, these are the backdrops student engagement with the topic at hand and with peers. Some
against which the experience of academic life occurs. A institutions, notably in Australia where 1,000-student units are
university’s physical setting must meet the operational common, have questioned the future of the lecture and, with it, the
demands placed upon it, but its remit extends far beyond need for large-scale lecture venues.2 As the learning demographic
function. Buildings and landscapes lie at the heart and soul continues to broaden, including the socioeconomically disadvantaged
of the university community. and mature-aged student and continuing education, the fexibility
offered by online teaching can be a gateway to education. While the
However, in a matter of mere weeks, the global pandemic lecture’s contribution is a hotly debated topic and many academics
saw higher education move from a place-based to an online continue to champion the role of large-scale teaching, there is little
experience. Campuses were shuttered and technology stepped doubt that its place in academia and its guise are evolving.
into the breach as universities mobilised all teaching activities
online. The foodgates have been opened and now, many Enabling opportunities for pedagogical innovation involves a
argue, there will be no going back. Once the long shadow of cultural change. Whilst achieving this is never easy, space is a
coronavirus recedes, we will be left with a new normal that tool in doing so. Our campuses are now home to a greater variety
will do to the traditional residential campus what Amazon has of learning environments than ever before, from pods and desks
done to the high street. But will it? Above all, the pandemic for private informal study to open, reconfgurable settings and
revealed the importance of human interaction and the role of meeting rooms with integrated technology for collaborative
place as enabler of it. For the university campus, space may, work. Whilst engaged practices can and do occur in traditional
in fact, be rendered more relevant than ever. classrooms, lecture theatres and other spaces, our understanding
of what constitutes effective learning environments is growing.
Those entrusted with the task of designing, planning and
stewarding the campus, though, are facing an increasingly Approaches to research are also changing. More and more,
complex task. Recent decades have transformed higher innovation and discovery are happening at the intersection of
education globally. With each passing year, its role, scale disciplines. ‘The most fertile knowledge environments,’ writes
and mission are growing; an evolving repertoire of external Michael Hebbert, ‘are no longer cells of specialisation, but
forces is bringing new challenges and prompting new interstitial spaces where different specialisms come together.’3
questions. The built environment must respond to and For universities, this step into the new requires not only a radical
support these changes and this, in turn, is impacting upon switch in mindsets to overcome ingrained disciplinary silos, but is
how universities design and build their campuses. also accompanied by spatial demands. Interdisciplinary research
thrives on collaboration; space can either facilitate or hinder this.
In the frst instance, who is learning, where they want
to learn and, perhaps most signifcantly, how they are The blurring of boundaries also applies to the academy’s mission
learning is changing. Shifting student demographics as a whole. The mantle of higher education has expanded far
are bringing more post-graduates, older age groups and beyond teaching and research. Since the late twentieth century,
other non-traditional scholars to campus, whose differing academic institutions have more and more been perceived as
commitments, educational paths and study patterns exert the key to unlocking everything from global societal problems to
new demands on it. The campus must react too to today’s local economic downturns. The positioning of knowledge as an
generational bent towards urban lifestyles, satisfying economic foundation stone has leveraged them into a ‘triple-helix’
preferences for well-connected, sociable environments rich in with government and industry as boundary-spanning drivers of
amenities and technology.1 technology transfer, company creation and regional renewal.

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 Increased pressure to prove worth and impact has, though, not (after people), buildings are a formidable and ongoing economic
only given rise to the ‘entrepreneurial university’ but bred new burden to HEIs. For those charged with managing an expanded
expectations for HEIs to assume proactive roles as community built estate, there is an intensifying pressure to streamline
leaders. Universities are being asked to justify not only what operational costs and improve effciencies in the face of an
they are good at, but what they are good for.4 acutely challenging fnancial future.

To fulfl their growing obligations, universities are investing The fnancial cataclysm of Covid-19 has compounded an
in infrastructure. A rising tide of entrepreneurship centres, already strained situation for the sector, including for many
incubators, research laboratories, as well as new learning Western institutions an over-reliance on the international
facilities, is supporting the expanding socioeconomic and student market that has come to the fore during the pandemic.
pedagogic demands. ‘Visit almost any university in the land and The rate of students leaving their home country to study
you will fnd a small city bursting with Portakabins, scaffolding overseas has decelerated signifcantly in recent years.
and cranes,’ observed The Spectator in 2016.5 This is no Pre-pandemic research predicted that the global number
new trend. Since the turn of the twentieth century, universities of international students will grow by 1.7 per cent per year
have invested signifcantly in their built footprint. Construction up to 2027, a fall from the 5.7 per cent annual increase
starts amongst North American universities rose from 1.12 that was seen between 2000 and 2015.10
million square metres in 1990 to 3 million square metres
in 2008.6 And this pattern has largely continued until the To date, Western institutions have beneftted substantially
pandemic. According to the Association of University Directors from the appetite for education amongst students from
of Estates, capital expenditure on the academic and residential developing economies, who typically encounter higher fees
estate of UK HEIs reached nearly £4 billion in 2018/19.7 In than home applicants. The higher education marketplace is,
the fve years leading up to 2019, the University of Manchester though, internationalising in leaps and bounds, intensifying
alone poured £625 million into 47 separate schemes.8 competition beyond the traditional Anglo preserve. Emerging
countries, notably in Asia, are investing to reverse the outbound
To many commentators, this torrent of building has been migration of their top students. Fuelled by ambitions to foster
nothing short of a facilities arms race fuelled to a signifcant knowledge economies, traditional feeder countries such as
degree by the forces of marketisation, which label students Singapore, Malaysia and China are striving to become education
as consumers and compel institutions into a cycle of one- destinations themselves. China, for instance, is assertively
upmanship. Much of this investment was meeting an acute seeking to boost its international profle, implementing
need to replace or rehabilitate ageing facilities, but undoubtedly strategic reforms to push its institutions up the world rankings.
the ferce global competition for students has bred a growing Singapore, meanwhile, aspires to become a ‘global schoolhouse’.
receptiveness amongst HEIs to the importance of their Since 2000, its number of HEIs has tripled. Thanks to targeted
environment in the struggle to win hearts and minds. Often investment, more Singaporeans are electing to study at one of
amidst hikes in tuition fees, students are expecting more from the now highly ranked home universities than to go abroad.11
their campuses and universities have used shiny new buildings
as a lure to attract and retain them. ‘If you build it, they will The global picture is, therefore, a complicated one. While large,
come’ is how the New York Times described the approach research-intensive institutions may well be facing differing sets
pursued by American college administrators. of circumstances to small, teaching-focused ones, universities
of all scales and types are being asked to do more with less. To
The expansion set in motion by universities large and small survive, they are reacting to this changing context.
alike in recent decades has impacted upon the fnancial
context that the sector is facing in the present day. The wave of The shifts in learning practices, government policies, fnancial
building has been accompanied by a hike in external borrowing, outlook, student expectations and the globalisation of higher
symptomatic of an ongoing sidle into fnancial markets to pay education are having marked ramifcations for the university
for expansion plans. In 2016, Harvard University launched a estate. This is resulting in an evolving body of building and
$2.5 billion bond issue and, in 2017, the University of Oxford master-planning morphologies or, as we have dubbed them,
borrowed £750 million in bonds; but smaller, lower-ranked ‘trends’. The following section sketches the most infuential,
institutions are also looking to new sources of capital to fund salient and pervasive trends that are currently shaping HEIs
development and are incurring substantial operating defcits in around the world, beginning with the time-honoured practice of
the process.9 Typically an institution’s second highest expense repurposing a structure for a function its builders never imagined.

UNIVERSITY TRENDS 11

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 ADAPTIVE REUSE The label is often used interchangeably with retroftting,
remodelling or conversion, but essentially refers to
recasting an obsolete or ineffective structure to better
suit modern needs. According to Viollet-le-Duc, one of
‘Reduce, reuse, recycle’ has become a mantra for our age. the progenitors of adaptive reuse, ‘the best of all ways
Society is growing increasingly cognisant of its impact on of preserving a building is to fnd a use for it’. The scale
the environment, changing our attitudes towards everything of interventions varies between projects, as do the
we make and use from coffee cups to plastic bags, including types of projects themselves. Within higher education,
the buildings around us. Reusing existing structures for new great ingenuity has been displayed in the conversion of
functions – ‘adaptive reuse’ – has become a signifcant part a surprising range of buildings. Thus, RMIT University
of contemporary architectural practice. houses its student services within the gatehouse of Old
Melbourne Gaol (2015, Peter Elliott Architecture and
The phenomenon is far from new. Pagan temples were Urban Design); London Business School now operates
transformed into Christian churches, and English from a register offce (2017, Sheppard Robson); and in
monasteries became country estates. Converting existing France, the Université de Picardie Jules-Verne has made
buildings is a matter of common-sense economics that has use of Amiens’ seventeenth-century citadel for its new
taken place throughout history, including at universities. In campus (2018, Renzo Piano Building Workshop).
the UK, the dissolved nunnery of St Radegund in Cambridge
was repurposed as Jesus College in the 1590s; in the US, in The West, according to scholars Bie Plevoets and
1946 Roosevelt University moved into a nineteenth-century Koenraad van Cleempoel, is facing a common problem
theatre, hotel and offce building in Chicago designed by of what to do with a growing outmoded, and sometimes
Louis Sullivan; whilst the University of Alcalá in Spain idle, building stock.17 As society – particularly technology –
adapted a military aerodrome in the late 1960s. evolves, what we need and want from our buildings is
changing and many are fnding themselves superseded.
However, we are now seeing a heightened receptiveness Yet, redundant buildings can retain a sense of worth.
towards the potential of repurposing rather than razing Buildings form the backdrop of our lives, and thus
and building anew, helped in no small measure by recent are great repositories of cultural value. They play an
high-profle endeavours, such as Diller Scofdio + Renfro’s important role in the formation, accumulation and
renewal of New York’s High Line (2009, 2011) and dissemination of the collective memory of place; they
Herzog & de Meuron’s Elbphilharmonie concert hall do not necessarily have to be superlatively beautiful
(2017).12 Amidst the global anxiety about dwindling natural or venerable to achieve this status. Often, according
resources and climate change, reducing energy use and to architect Nicola Rutt, ‘we do not realise that we
carbon emissions is one of the most pressing issues within care about a building, or have some level of emotional
the built environment sector.13 It is no coincidence that the attachment to it, until it is threatened, when suddenly
frst recorded instance of the term adaptive reuse in 1973 our memories come rushing to the front of our minds’.18
occurred at the same time as a global oil crisis that sparked Buildings can function as a channel for the deeply rooted
a consciousness of the value of natural resources.14 human desire to connect with the past.

It is often repeated that the greenest building is the one As a generalisation, old buildings have a place
already built. New construction accounts for 40 per cent rooted in the community, whether this be as a place
of the total fow of raw materials globally.15 Enormous of work, worship, culture or leisure, that a modern
quantities of energy are consumed in raw material replacement simply is not immediately entitled to. For
extraction, processing, transportation and construction, a university, the acquisition and sensitive adaptation
not to mention the ecological cost associated with of such a structure can be a foundation stone for
demolition in terms of landfll. Moreover, it can take local engagement, embedding the institution within its
up to 80 years for a new structure rated 30 per cent community. In the case of the University of Windsor
more energy effcient than the average to mitigate the in Canada, which reused a 1920s-era newspaper
environmental impact of its construction.16 Considering headquarters in 2015 for its School of Social Work and
buildings through an environmental lens is, therefore, a graduate school, the institution did not recognise the
powerful inducement for adaptive reuse. richness achieved through repurposing old structures

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 until it saw how positively local residents reacted to its Poetter Hall, once a Volunteer Guards Armoury, has since 1978 served as
Savannah College of Art and Design’s (SCAD) fagship premises.
retention. The city lost many historic buildings during
the twentieth century, so the renewing of the local
landmark was warmly welcomed by the community.19
This was especially valuable for the University as the
project marked the frst stage in the creation of a one of Savannah’s frst examples of Romanesque
city-centre campus, three kilometres from its existing Revival, was essentially abandoned. Since then,
suburban site, which also includes the conversion of it has purchased and repurposed nearly 280,000
the nearby 1902 Armouries to house the School of square metres of building space spanning the entirety
Creative Arts (2017). The transformation of these of the city’s lifetime from the antebellum era to
redundant Windsor properties into an urban campus the present, much of which would almost certainly
belongs to ambitions for the revitalisation of the city otherwise have fallen to the wrecker’s ball. From the
as a whole. Windsor has a struggling manufacturing historic to the offbeat, its miscellany of converted
economy, and the University facilities are intended to buildings includes a decommissioned synagogue
catalyse its renewal by bringing new life into its core. (now a student centre), department store (library)
and railway depot (museum). SCAD’s approach to
The adaptive reuse of historic buildings to house campus development proved key to the resuscitation
university functions has proven an effective vehicle of the moribund downtown. Moreover, it has enabled
in urban revitalisation. Probably no better example the College, which is still relatively young, to take
of this exists than the Savannah College of Art root within its host city. ‘Putting the school in
and Design (SCAD) in the US. When SCAD was restored treasures helped establish SCAD more than
founded in 1978, the historic port city of Savannah anything,’ confrmed founder Richard Rowan. ‘No
was in decline; deserted and dilapidated buildings one thinks of us as a new college. People pass by our
characterised its centre. In 1979, the College buildings every day and think we’ve been here for 100
purchased its frst, and now fagship, premises, the years.’20 Adaptive reuse has become the key element
Volunteer Guards Armory (1892), which, despite being of SCAD’s brand.

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 Adaptive reuse has become a popular choice within academia Above: The San Francisco Art Institute, occupying a former US Army
warehouse, illustrates the innate resilience of many industrial buildings and
for housing the creative arts. In 2011, Central St Martins, ability to live second lives.
part of the University of the Arts London, relocated to
Opposite: Lehigh University’s reuse of a former Bethlehem Steel complex
a burly 1852 granary building, thoughtfully adapted by preserved the original solidity and rawness of the buildings to create a space
Stanton Williams. Four years later and 155 kilometres away, where students feel they can be free to experiment.
Norwich University of the Arts remodelled an 1879 Sunday
School building for its architecture and media department.
The San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) has, since 2017,
been resident of a former army warehouse. The 1912 depot buildings.’21 The patina of age creates a backdrop conducive
integrates studios, galleries, teaching spaces, a theatre and to experimentation and improvisation.
workshop where once military supplies were stacked and
stored. The same is also true of innovation functions. The Whilst theoretical discourse on adaptive reuse began
University of Pennsylvania appropriated a mid-twentieth- in the nineteenth century with the preservation of
century paint factory for innovation workshops (Pennovation monuments recognised as historic and architectural
Center, 2016). Perhaps the affliation between art and landmarks, recent decades have seen attitudes shift.
innovation and veteran buildings has something to do Today, as the Pennovation Center demonstrates,
with the latter’s symbolic worth as reminders of cultural adaptive reuse is by no means confned to historic gems.
production, or perhaps it has a more pragmatic explanation In 2016, the Arts University Bournemouth in the UK
that pertains to the big rooms, high ceilings and physical completed the conversion of two drab, brick residence
robustness that often characterises old structures. ‘If you halls built only 15 years previously into workshops
put art students in contemporary buildings,’ explains Jon and studios (Design Engine). Bath Spa University has
Cattapan, director of the Victorian College of the Arts rehoused its arts school (2019, Grimshaw Architects)
(University of Melbourne), which has recently repurposed within a 1977 furniture factory. In the US, Lehigh
the century-old stables and drill hall of the Melbourne University has utilised a long-unoccupied 1960s
mounted police (see pages 76–7), ‘they feel inherently industrial R&D complex for a new innovation and
inhibited, and don’t get as carried away as they do in older creative workshop facility (2018, EYP).

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 The broadening approach to re-evaluating which option. A fundamental question to ask of any prospective
older buildings merit retention and conversion is in no building is whether its form can feasibly be reshaped to
small part a refection of the need for both economic suit its proposed new role.
and sustainable development patterns, but it also
speaks of the resilience of many older building types. Architects must next navigate the grey area of
The examples of Pennsylvania, Bath Spa and SFAI architectural and historical integrity. As early as the
illustrate, for instance, the adaptability of factories 1880s, Italian architect Camillo Boito advocated the
and warehouses, whose typically robust frames and importance of ensuring differentiation between the
voluminous interiors are receptive to major structural old and new when working with heritage buildings. In
revisions and internal reconfgurations. They are The Stables at the Victorian College of Arts, original
the embodiment of the ‘long life, loose ft’ school of steelwork was left unpainted whilst new structural
thought, denoting buildings that can stand the test steel was painted black. Sheppard Robson’s work for
of time; although coined in 1972, the phrase is as the London Business School saw the insertion of a
relevant now as ever. As a generalisation, buildings contemporary glass and steel atrium between the neo-
should be designed to last and, therefore, have to be classical, Portland-stone register offce (1920) and
capable of adapting (sometimes dramatically) across its library annexe (1938). Contrasts between old and
their lifetime. The SFAI scheme was designed to be new can be extreme. At the World Maritime University
fexible in both the long and short term. Its studios in Sweden, a 2015 extension (Terroir and Kim Utzon
and teaching rooms can be reconfgured quickly to Arkitekter) could not have been more starkly different
serve immediate needs. In the future, its open and to the 1910 harbour master’s house that it joined. Here,
unspecifed spaces are such that they could adapt a boldly contemporary faceted glass and aluminium
to alternative uses. The ‘light touch’ approach is addition extends from a red-brick, stone-dressed core,
evidenced in the new mezzanine level, which sits a resulting in a Janus-faced complex. The stark disparity
few centimetres apart from the original steel frame. between the two proved polarising.

Architects need to get away from ‘the idea of a fnished There is no consensus on what constitutes a meaningful
building’, according to designer Alex Lifschutz, instead level of distinction in adaptive reuse projects, but the
recognising that each intervention marks a moment melding of old and new, ensuring each retains its own
in time in the life of a structure.22 The layering of new integrity, is amongst the key tasks of the adaptive reuse
design upon the old can result in a richly textured architect. The SFAI is a mannered response to the
narrative. ‘Architects and planners like a blank slate,’ 1912 warehouse. The insertion of two levels of studios
wrote urbanist William Whyte. ‘They usually do their and teaching space either side of a central nave has
best work, however, when they don’t have one.’23 The preserved intact the drama of the 52-foot-high volume
imaginative and material challenge of working within and its rhythmic procession of steel trusses. Yet the new
the confnes and complexities of historic fabric can yield features bring energy and dynamism to the interior, in
enormously fecund results. Whilst potentially perceived the angled bridge that links the mezzanine ‘aisles’ or the
as less glamorous than new builds, peeling away the sliding glass panels for instance. Successful adaptive
strata of time is a creative opportunity. One never reuse schemes, like this, add to the layered narrative of a
quite knows what may be discovered. The University of structure, becoming a piece of its story.
Amsterdam’s remodelling of twin seventeenth-century
houses to accommodate the Institute of Advanced Buildings are capable of many lives. Universities and
Study (2017, see pages 118–19) revealed hidden marble their architects are recognising this with increasing
panelling, for instance. sensitivity and sophistication, with the result that the
adaptive reuse trend is growing more creative, more
This ‘step into the unknown’ can equally, though, be accomplished and more practised over time. The
problematic. The discovery of timber beams riddled schemes thus delivered are amongst the most intelligent,
with dry rot in the latter project brought it to a six- inventive and sustainable in the architecture world.
month standstill. The degree to which historic fabric
will comply with a given brief is very diffcult to predict
at the outset.24 Adaptive reuse is not always a viable Opposite: At the London Business School, new and old are clearly demarcated.

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 STUDENT HUBS Since the 1990s, the concept of the library as a
place of scholarship has been evolving to refect
new attitudes to learning and pedagogical practice.
The preference towards less formally orientated
More than any other of the single building types profled environments, collaborative study resources and
in these pages, the hub exemplifes the multiplex nature embedded technology that is reshaping the academic
of university life. The epithet ‘hub’ is itself a term largely library has spilt over into the hub typology in
confned to the UK, Australia and New Zealand, but it is recognition of the increasingly student-centric,
one that aptly expresses the psyche of this generation of fexible template for learning. Coventry’s Hub, for
facilities – a single, mixed-use, technology-rich structure instance, counts 2,800 square metres allocated to
intended to be the centre of student activity, whether informal study, fulflling the ‘anytime, anywhere’
social, pastoral or academic. Building specifcs vary concept of experiential learning. Its mixture of
from example to example, but the essence of the concept computer banks, social seating nests furnished with
is the notion of a ‘one-stop shop’, a place where students beanbags and bookable house-shaped booths, all
can study, meet course mates, eat and drink and access with their own power supply, is indicative of the
administrative support all under one roof.25 metamorphosis of academia away from formal
instruction and individual study into a much more
The Hub (2011, Hawkins\Brown) at Coventry University interactive, collaborative and immersive activity
in the UK, one of the early examples of the typology, was fuelled by technology. Melbourne’s student precinct
described by its architect as a ‘living room for the whole will include a total of approximately 4,000 indoor
university’. It offers the twenty-frst-century student and outdoor study spots to answer the tide in demand
a sweeping range of services including dining options, for places to work after hours and at weekends, that
convenience store, medical centre, careers offce, bar, is particularly pertinent for the rising number of
faith centre and study zones. Upon opening, it was ‘non-traditional’ students.
almost immediately lauded for providing a heart to
Coventry’s scattered, urban campus. The success of the The hub trend is thus the product of the convergence
genre has seen the model grow from single-building scale of prominent themes within the higher education
to precinct dimensions at several Australian institutions, landscape: the shift in learning paradigm and the
including RMIT University’s New Academic Street (see focus on student experience. Students undoubtedly
pages 86–7), the Kambri precinct (2019, BVN) at the have higher expectations than at any time hitherto.
Australian National University and the University of ‘The rise in tuition fees has certainly meant students
Melbourne’s forthcoming student precinct (collaborative expect more – they want an exceptional all-round
team led by Lyons). The latter project includes nine experience to add to the degree certifcate they’ll
buildings and open space to deliver 37,300 square walk away with at the end of their studies,’ Ian Dunn,
metres of retail, catering, study, arts and student union provost at Coventry University, has explained. ‘That
facilities. Here and elsewhere, the hub model refects an means bringing academic, social, extra-curricular
aspiration to invest a campus with a heart, highly visible and employment factors frmly into the frame for
and easily accessible, that can answer the daily study, each and every student, to ensure they’re getting
social and administrative needs of all students. value for money.’26 The student is progressively
being identifed as a consumer. By uniting the core
The origins of the hub typology draw heavily upon two principles of the student experience – teaching,
long-established components of the traditional campus – learning, social, support – hubs are perceived as
the library and the student union. With the latter, hubs a key means of answering market demands and,
share a focus upon meeting recreational or social needs, thereby, securing the competitive edge.
but enlarge this to provide a more integrated, expansive
service that may include counselling or careers advice Hubs are often looked upon as a selling point for
as well as lounges and cafés. Above all, they differ from the campus as a whole. In Australia, Flinders
the archetypal union or student centre in their provision University’s 2016 Student Hub (Woods Bagot)
of learning and study options, thus branching into the was conceived in part due to a recognition that its
traditional province of the library. facilities were trailing behind those of its peers.

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 For the University of Exeter in the UK, the decision Above: Coventry University’s Hub has transformed the commuter campus by
providing an all-day destination for study, socialising and student services,
to build a hub was the cornerstone of an ambitious furnished with playful bespoke furniture, booths and nests.
capital programme to boost undergraduate
Following page: Harvard University’s Smith Campus Center has seen the
satisfaction levels and, critically, steal a lead on its retroftting of three foors of a 1960s building to create a place for all, with a
rivals in its bid to grow its student population by variety of spaces to welcome a range of activities and personal preferences.
nearly 50 per cent. The Forum (2012, Wilkinson
Eyre Architects) physically joined Exeter’s existing
library and student union to new retail, breakout
spaces, a student services centre, an auditorium and
seminar rooms. Harvard University’s Smith Campus Center
(2018, Hopkins Architects and Bruner/Cott)
The strength of the Forum’s make up lies in its was purposed to pull people out from their
convenience; many functions are under a single laboratories, dormitories and departments and
roof to make the student experience as fuid and stimulate interaction and exchange. The project,
accessible as possible. It is a manifestation of which saw the retroftting of three foors of Josep
the global shift, particularly amongst younger Lluis Sert’s 1966 brutalist landmark, is part of
generations, towards the ‘experience economy’, Harvard’s ‘Common Spaces’ planning initiative,
a term frst coined in the 1990s to refer to the established in 2008 to create collaborative places
economic revolution that is seeing memorable, that bring the University community together. In
positively charged ‘experiences’ supplant material the thoughtful reimagining of the Smith Campus
products and services in the consumer market. Many Center the key space created is the Harvard
universities are fully awake to this phenomenon, Commons, an expansive, multi-level ‘living room’
and the rise of the hub trend is evidence of how they that supports a host of activities from studying to
are using their physical estate to help its members chatting, lunchtime concerts and presentations. It
engage fully in academic life and build institutional is these types of environments that are integral to
bonds that will survive after graduation.27 engendering institutional affliation or belonging.

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 The human desire for belonging is a well-studied successful ‘third places’ on university campuses,
topic of psychological research. In recent years, alongside other factors such as natural lighting,
it has increasingly been thought about in terms availability of food, exterior views and fexibility of
of education. Studies indicate that students who furniture.32 Many of the interior fttings of Adelaide’s
report a sense of belonging to their institution Hub Central – sofas, stools, desks, mobile computers,
are happier and more confdent, motivated and miniature whiteboards – are lightweight or on
involved in learning activities.28 Many researchers wheels, allowing them to be easily moved and thereby
believe that nurturing institutional belonging goes investing the space with the ability to respond to
hand in hand with the built environment. ‘Meaning the changing parameters of student expectations
formation is closely associated with the concept of and create personalised experiences for its users. At
place’, write Yelena McLane and Nadya Kozinets, Trent University in Canada, the close relationship
meaning that place attachment may be ‘key to the of its Student Centre (see page 94) to its natural
creation of successful campus experiences, leading surroundings has proven its most lauded quality.
to student satisfaction, intellectual development and Set on the banks of the Otonabee River, its glazed
stress reduction, as well as institutional growth and southern façade puts users right on the waterfront.
fnancial success’.29 This philosophy underpinned the
student precinct project at Melbourne, a University Location on campus is another determinant of
that has identifed a low sense of student belonging the hub typology. Hubs must be easily accessible
and connection to the institution and their peers as a geographically if they are to fulfl their potential.
longstanding problem.30 In descriptions of Harvard’s Smith Center, Exeter’s
Forum, Flinders’ Student Hub and more, the
As part of their objective to forge connection with hub is spoken of in terms of being a new ‘front
the campus, the University of Melbourne has been door’ for the campus. For the Smith Center, this
ardent in soliciting student input into the planning gateway role is also about welcoming the wider
of the new precinct. It dubs this a ‘co-creation community into Harvard, pointing to aspirations
model’, indicating a cultural shift at the University for a closer relationship between the town and the
whereby the student body is encouraged to assume highly exclusive gown. The public are invited into
a more active role in its life. In 2019, for instance, it the cafés and Harvard Commons. Hubs can be of
hosted a furniture feedback exhibition attended particular value in urban contexts where space for
by upwards of 1,000 students, staff and others clubs, socialising or to simply ‘be’ is at a premium.
who were invited to share their opinion on furniture Especially for institutions where the proportion
being considered for the project. Such engagement of commuting students is high, such facilities can
is more than a symbolic gesture in building place provide the glue to keep students on site for longer.
attachment. As McLane and Kozinet discuss, It is no coincidence that Coventry University,
student involvement and decision making in a facility traditionally a commuter institution, has risen up
increases the likelihood of creating place-based the UK student satisfaction rankings since the
bonds and enriching campus experiences.31 The development of the Hub.
process enjoyed success at the University of Adelaide,
where over 9,000 hours of student involvement went There is no static formula for the building type
into the design of its Hub Central (2011, HASSELL) in terms of its functions, form or division of
as part of a reference group and governance body space. Indeed, one of its advantages is that the
working alongside the project architects. An ideas concept carries the versatility to adapt to different
wall erected outside the University library, together requirements. Hubs are an evolving building type.
with online surveys and social media, gave rise to They are essentially places of experimentation, where
such features as digital signage screens, which shifting patterns of learning and interaction can be
display relevant community information and list explored. The concept is one that is likely to have
computer availability. continued currency as technologies and pedagogies
develop and, furthermore, as the importance of the
The integration of technology has been singled out experience economy becomes more deeply ingrained
in studies as a criterion in the spatial design of into university culture.

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 HOUSING Such initiatives are, in part, a recognition of the
importance of nurturing emotional bonds and
belonging at a time when mental health problems
amongst students are at a worrying high. In the
In many parts of the world, purpose-built student UK, the number of undergraduates disclosing
accommodation is a booming investment asset. mental health issues more than doubled between
Particularly in the UK, US and Australia, the global 2015 and 2019.34 As the intermediate between the
marketisation of higher education has encouraged social, domestic and academic spheres, student
private sector investors to enter the feld, ready to residences are uniquely positioned to help build
meet soaring demands for bed spaces. In the UK, attachments, combat loneliness and help students
the tally of purpose-built student bedrooms reached thrive academically. Yet, the overwhelming design
627,115 in 2018/19, of which half are privately impetus behind much campus housing has been
owned or managed – up by a third since 2014.33 privacy: private bedrooms, private bathrooms,
This upward trajectory would not in itself qualify private kitchens. While coveted, these features
as a ‘trend’ herein. However, it is also accompanied can foster isolation, which in turn can inhibit
by a nascent movement that is giving rise to academic success. Research has revealed positive
creative innovations that stand out from the correlation between a student’s sense of belonging
norm. And by innovations we do not mean the and their grade-point average and retention rates.
eye-wateringly expensive breed of hotel-like schemes The physical environment in which a student
replete with cinemas and gyms at the lives can be a key determinant as to whether
top-end of the private provision; rather, this this attachment takes root.35 Indeed, a key
encompasses new approaches being pioneered study identifed strong association of on-campus
by universities to render them better able to living with both improved student retention and
serve their students and wider communities. graduation rates.36 A growing appreciation of
these connections by institutions is leading to
The student housing boom has proven a source experimentation in various guises.
of friction between town and gown, particularly
in the UK. Here, the past decade has witnessed a One such example is the new generation of
mushrooming of poorly designed towers of prison- residential colleges within universities. The
like banality or garish blocks of lurid colours, and model, of course, stretches back centuries to
concomitant concerns over the ‘studentifcation’ medieval Oxford and Cambridge, wherein from
of neighbourhoods. There are signs, however, the fourteenth century endowed autonomous
of preliminary steps towards closer integration communities of scholars assumed the
between accommodation policies and local responsibility of housing, feeding and instructing
society. In 2020, 3DReid revealed plans for an undergraduates. Variations on this theme were
intergenerational scheme in Edinburgh that would imported to Harvard and Yale in the 1930s.
bring assisted living residences and a dementia care Nomenclature and teaching involvement differ,
centre together with student housing. Occupants but residential colleges remain underpinned
of the latter are expected to be trainee nurses by the utopia of an academic community.
and other health-based students at the nearby Now the concept is enjoying a tentative but
Queen Margaret University and Edinburgh’s Royal insightful resurgence. In Germany, Jacobs
Infrmary. In 2019, the University of Bristol, in University Bremen appropriated the system, as
conjunction with a housing association and charity, has the Universidad de la Américas Puebla in
inaugurated LaunchPad, accommodating 31 Mexico. In the US, Tulane University, Southern
students, young key workers and under-30s from Methodist University and Vanderbilt University
disadvantaged backgrounds in modular units built are all recent adoptees. Tulane’s Greenbaum
on a carpark site some 6.5 kilometres from the House (2014, Architecture Research Offce/
University. By bringing together students with young Waggonner+Ball Architects), for instance,
local residents, the ambition is to foster closer links groups together over 250 students, a 35-seat
between students and their host communities. classroom, an apartment for a faculty member in

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 residence and an offce for a community director large university feel smaller. Living-learning
that plans activities and oversees quality of life communities, or LLCs, have grown in popularity
for the members. In 2018, Vanderbilt University over the last two decades. LLCs vary widely in
completed the frst of four planned new their scope and size, but essentially they are a
residential colleges, each housing approximately means of creating learning environments outside
350 undergraduates living alongside faculty of the classroom for students with similar career
and postgraduates (master plan by David M. goals or pastimes. Residential life is combined
Schwarz Architects). Consciously seeking with coordinated curricular activities with a
to play upon the utopian image of academic particular topical or academic theme, ranging
colleges, Vanderbilt has opted to clothe its new from courses taught within the residence hall,
additions in Collegiate Gothic garb, replete with to mentoring, networks for common interests
belfry tower, limestone castellation and arcaded and lecture series. In so doing, they create
cloister (see pages 108–9). opportunities for students to build relationships
with like-minded supportive peers that may help
For a long time, the collegiate system was ease them into university life.
associated with the elite tier alone – the
Oxbridges and Ivy Leagues – so it is refreshing The model largely falls into two camps:
to see its gradual permeation across other communities focused on academic support, or
institutional types. Although many universities social communities based upon themes beyond
that are establishing new residential college curricula studies. In 2019, Virginia Tech began
systems are also simultaneously embarking on construction of a new Creativity and Innovation
construction projects to house them, the two do District that will include Studio 72 (VMDO
not have to go hand in hand. Creating residential Architects), an LLC tailored to those who want
colleges within a larger institution is more to make the arts part of their campus experience,
contingent upon arranging existing resources whatever subject they study. It will feature visual
than acquiring new ones. The residential college arts studio space and rehearsal and practice
movement today is largely impelled by principles rooms. Virginia Tech also operates several subject-
of decentralisation, community and diversity. specifc LLCs, including an engineering community
Small, decentralised residential colleges are for women in which frst-year engineering students
held to counteract the effects of educational live together with older mentors. In 2017, Arizona
massifcation by bringing students and faculty State University similarly opened Tooker House,
from all academic disciplines together into a residence hall designed for engineering majors
rich and cohesive social communities. Its (see pages 100–1). It contains classrooms, where
uptake is supported by a body of evidence beginner engineering courses are taught, and
that highlights the enormous benefts students tutoring centres for its residents. Such amenities
gain from interaction with faculty, both come at a price – over $2,000 extra per academic
formal and informal and, furthermore, that year for rent compared to other housing on
a common social identifcation – of the type campus. The University, though, markets the
shared by college members – is closely opportunities that the hall can bring in terms of
aligned with wellbeing.37 greater engagement with faculty, which in turn
can lead to internships and career development.
A more recent riff on the residential college
concept is that of the living-learning community. LLCs like these are an embodiment of the
Largely a North American phenomenon, the deepening appreciation that learning happens
frst incarnation was born in 1962, when the everywhere. Current research surrounding the
University of Michigan piloted an initiative to effectiveness of living-learning communities
lessen the anonymity felt by incoming frst- is limited, but there is evidence that these
years. At a time when the number of students environments stimulate a student’s desire for
in higher education was soaring exponentially, knowledge and lifelong capacity for inquiry
it was perceived as a means of making a compared to traditional dormitories.38

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 Not all students have the opportunity to live Above: The Arbutus Collegium at the University of British Columbia is one
of a series of bases for frst-year commuting students, helping ease the
on campus, however. Even in the US, with its demands of commuting by addressing daily, practical issues such as a place
deeply engrained history of residential higher to heat up lunch or relax between classes.
education, 37 per cent of students remain in the Following page: The University of Edinburgh’s O’Shea North is illustrative
parental home.39 Those staying at home, though, of the strategic race to attract postgraduate and international students
markets through the provision of high-quality housing.
are statistically more likely to struggle both
socially and academically. Research observes
that commuting is likely to result in poorer
educational outcomes and less engagement with
the university experience, pointing to a striking the facilities during the day when residents were
need to better integrate these students with the out – and was soon given up. Yet, the motive was a
campus community.40 When the University of commendable one and, in fact, similar efforts are
Essex was founded in 1963, its vice-chancellor being made today.
addressed what he termed the ‘academic
apartheid’ between the ‘privileged minority’ In 2013, the University of British Columbia
living in residence halls and the ‘unprivileged (UBC) opened its frst Collegium on its Vancouver
majority’ living off-site by providing designated campus, where nearly four ffths of the student
‘study rooms’ within the student apartments. body commute. The aspiration is to create a base
Non-residents would have access to these as well for frst-year commuter undergraduates, where
as the kitchen and common areas in each fat. they have access to a kitchen, lockers, study
They, thereby, would be encouraged to spend desks and social areas. UBC now has six of these
more time on campus, drawing them into closer Collegia, fve of which are located within residence
communities and enabling them to participate halls. A 2019 internal survey reported that 91
in the ‘communal life of the University’.41 The per cent of interviewed Collegia members felt
experiment was never very successful – more that involvement had helped them make friends.
often than not, commuter students only used Something as simple as a locker or the ability

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