- Higher Education
- Residential
- Higher Education
- Residential
— CLIENT
Newman University
— SECTOR
Higher Education
Residential
— SERVICES
Architecture
Interior Design
Landscape Design
— VALUE
£8.5m
One of five universities in Birmingham, Newman University is fast growing as a major centre of learning within the city. We took on the task of designing a set of new student accommodation halls for the University, helping to support its growth.
The key challenge was to give the buildings a distinctive appearance while tying them to the surrounding campus. Our vision for the site included a new landscaping strategy, which needed to link the new accommodation blocks to the existing campus buildings.
Planned in three phases, the accommodation blocks balance a large scale and bold, muscular form with materials and details that echo the existing campus. This gives students the opportunity to live in a place with its own identity and sense of community, while tying them to the wider community of the University – an archetypal challenge when designing student residences.
We paid careful attention to the links and routes around the site. New car parking reduces the pressure on surrounding roads, while paths, landscaped courtyards, and visual links to the campus encourage more sustainable forms of transport. Students can now benefit from halls of residence which are a place in their own right – and which support the University’s ambitious vision for the future.
“We’re committed to providing the very best learning environment for our students here at Newman, and this investment is the next part of our plan to deliver on that aim.”
– PETER LUTZEIER, VICE-CHANCELLOR AND PRINCIPAL OF NEWMAN UNIVERSITY
