Foundress Court, Pembroke College

Eric Parry Architects, Cambridge, 1998

 

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When Pembroke College, Cambridge, decided to build extra student rooms and other facilities, it enabled Eric Parry Architects to rework the entire south-east corner of the site, adding a new court and a replacement Master’s Lodge 

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  • When Pembroke College, Cambridge, decided to build extra student rooms and other facilities, it enabled Eric Parry Architects to rework the entire south-east corner of the site, adding a new court and a replacement Master’s Lodge    
  • When Pembroke College, Cambridge, decided to build extra student rooms and other facilities, it enabled Eric Parry Architects to rework the entire south-east corner of the site, adding a new court and a replacement Master’s Lodge    
  • Detail of north façade showing entrance from Foundress Court with route through to South Court    
  • West façade with entrance from Foundress Court    
  • Apart from three bays which define a minor entrance, the east façade is expressed as a rear elevation    
  • Raised courtyard    
  • Modernist transparency is used in an unbridled way only at the glass link at the end of the north wing    
  • Tennis Court Road façade    
  •     
  • The dichroic glass lantern structure which marks the main stair was designed by Peter Aldridge. The sundial was designed by the Cardozo Kindersley Workshop, calculated by Dr Frank King    
  • A typical staircase    
  • Staggered party walls in the student rooms swallow wardrobes and washbasins to both sides    
  • Eric Parry designed the carpet in the Nihon room, a large social room named after the Japanese sponsor    
  • Each room has a major and minor window offering varied possibilities for ventilation and lighting    
  • The dichroic glass lantern structure which marks the main stair was designed by Peter Aldridge. The sundial was designed by the Cardozo Kindersley Workshop, calculated by Dr Frank King    
  •     
  •     
  • Site plan    
  • Ground floor plan    
  • First floor plan    
  • Section AA    
  • Section BB    
  • Axonometric    
  • Part-plan of student room and isometric of stonework and window    
  • Detail section through wall    

College court built in the grounds of Pembroke college site, close to the historic city centre of Cambridge

The court provides nearly 100 student rooms, a fellow’s set, computer centre, meeting rooms and new Master’s Lodge on a complex site between urban streets and its collegiate interior.

The two perpendicular wings of the building form the new boundaries to one of the college courts. At the northern end, the building forms a raised, cloistered garden; at the western end, the master’s lodge forms the end of the building.

At the intersection of the wings there is a main stair which rises up below the roof lantern. The lantern demarcates the new college entrance. To the street side, six new small courts of different character are formed between projecting pavilions.

The building is formed from in-situ concrete slabs supported on load bearing blockwork walls. The fabric of the building has been developed using some of the most innovative specialists and testing bodies to create a building with an anticipated life of over 200 years.

Data

  • Completed: 1998
  • Sectors: Education, Residential
  • Total cost: £6.5M
  • Address: Pembroke College, Cambridge, CB2 1QA, United Kingdom

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