Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge

Located at the heart of the University’s Sidgwick site the largest Law school in Britain, with 800 undergraduates and 200 postgraduate students, is surrounded by lawns and mature trees.

By digging the auditoria below ground the building provides 8,500 m² of accommodation without exceeding four storeys.

To minimise the building’s apparent size the building has a rectangular plan cut on the diagonal to follow the geometry of the neighbouring History Faculty and pedestrian routes across the site. The curving glass of the north facade also helps the building to recede visually.

The building uses passive and active strategies to reduce energy usage - natural lighting is used especially in the library, which occupies the upper three terraced floors and enjoys uninterrupted views of the gardens, while the full-height atrium draws daylight into the lower levels.

The building’s partially buried structure and exposed concrete frame combine to give it a high thermal mass.