Law Department

Wright & Wright, London, 2002

 

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City Campus’ Law Department, by Wright & Wright 

Peter Cook (website)     Download Original

  • City Campus’ Law Department, by Wright & Wright    
  • View of the Law Department from the Women’s Library, also by Wright & Wright    
  • The Law Department defers to its more high-profile neighbour, the Women’s Library, which incorporates the facade of a derelict wash house    
  • The Law Department’s restraint contrasts with the visual confusion of the market    
  • Seminar rooms have moveable walls    
  • The long, double-height atrium serves as an informal common room    
  • The long, double-height atrium serves as an informal common room    
  • Metal cages fill the voids between the stairs    
  • Site plan    
  • Lower ground floor plan    
  • Ground floor plan    
  • First floor plan    
  • Second floor plan    
  • Third floor plan    
  • Sections    
  • Sketch section    

Law Department for London Metropolitan University containing a 177-seat lecture hall, 13 seminar rooms, two IT suites, a mock court, 25 staff offices and a common room

Fitting roughly within the profile of the old swimming baths in order to avoid overshadowing the adjacent Herbert House, the addition is mostly of three storeys. It rises up to five floors at the southern end to hide the exposed side of the main university building, Calcutta House, a converted tea warehouse also of red brick.

The long double-height atrium, suggested by the mostly blank facade that faces the housing, was the key architectural driver internally; known as the ‘common room’ by staff and students, it is the space to which subsidiary rooms are orientated.

All seminar rooms connect to this main space: those on the ground floor are entered directly from the common room, with an overlooking walkway providing access to those on the upper floor.

Data

  • Begun: Sep 2001
  • Completed: Aug 2002
  • Floor area: 4,425m2
  • Sector: Education
  • Total cost: £7.2M
  • Tender date: Mar 2001
  • Procurement: JCT 98 Private Edition with Quantities
  • Address: Law Department, London Metropolitan University, 31 Jewry Street, London, EC3N 2EY, United Kingdom

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