The new College Entrance is sited to establish a confident presence on Hills Road aligned with existing frontage lines. Two new quadrangle spaces raise the quality of the front landscape, create new social spaces, and establish powerful visual connections to existing College landmarks. The Porter’s Lodge is a welcoming space sheltered by an open portico and colonnade.
Studio Name: Nex Architecture
Design Team: Alan Dempsey
Area: Competition entry – Architecture
Year: 2021
Location: Homerton College, Cambridge
Consultants:
- Webb Yates – Structural + MEP Engineers
- Todd Longstaffe-Gowan – Landscape Architect
- DHA Designs – Lighting Consultant
The gallery is a spacious volume with a visible presence on Hills Road, making it more inviting to the public. The library interior is glimpsed through tall art-glass doors, which can be opened to the gallery for special events.
The library is a distinctive new space that celebrates the Homerton College collection of Children’s Literature. A double height rotunda admits diffuse clerestory light into an almost circular reading room below. Capturing something of the magic of the stories contained within, the space is roofed with an inverted domed ceiling, evoking a floating moon — an ever-present motif in children’s literature.
