Durham University Gateway Project

Durham County

A new student services centre, law school, University headquarters, catering facilities, and an extension to the University library. Designed by Space Architecture and PH Partnership.

Summary

This is a significant scheme for Durham University, and the City of Durham as a whole, and we commend the design and client team for making good use of city centre land by choosing to build on this left-over and currently underused piece of land. We support the basic diagram, which reinforces the street frontage on Stockton Road, and the logic behind the location of the library extension. The design proposal is a successful and appropriate response to its site, which we note is outside the Durham City Centre Conservation Area and World Heritage Site. We are supportive of the application in principle, but recommend that the treatment of the eastern entrance is strengthened and more information on the detail of the design, to aid understanding of the complex geometry in three-dimensions, is added to supplement the application prior to determination.

Entrances, movement routes and permeability

We are pleased that a study of the desire lines of movement to the site and across the campus has helped to refine the hierarchy of routes and entrance points and the design of the ground plane. We agree that the proposed entrance on Stockton Road should be treated as one of several secondary points of entry into the campus rather than as the primary ‘gateway’ into the science site. The lower-key, informal access into the campus from Stockton Road, slipping between the two new buildings, is a convincing approach.

Building footprint and relationship with chemistry block

The overall diagram of a linear block to redefine the southern edge of Stockton Road and the siting of the library extension are sound. We welcome the physical separation between the two new buildings, which simplifies the diagram and creates an informal entrance to Gateway Plaza.

The tight relationship between the proposed linear student services and law block and the existing chemistry buildings is challenging, and we think that it would be improved by creating connections between them. However, we accept that within the current layout and operation of the chemistry buildings there is no opportunity for the proposed block to physically engage with the existing buildings. We support the enclosure of the corridor-like space between the new and existing buildings as a dedicated service zone in the short term and look forward to a meaningful connection being created during longer term development of the campus.

Building form and architecture

The scale of the proposed buildings, in terms of the height and the rhythmic façade, works well in this context. Stockton Road, being the junction between the conservation area and the University campus, will inevitably have different streetscapes on either side. While the proposed building on Stockton Road should be sympathetic to the conservation area, we feel that the proposed use and bold architecture is convincing in relation to the existing terrace. We are satisfied with the expression of the library extension both in relation to the frontage on Stockton Road and the curved south-facing glazed facade onto the courtyard. We support the proposed palette of facade materials. However the quality of the application information overall does not fully demonstrate the three-dimensional resolution of the complex forms and spaces created between buildings and we suggest that further information is needed to supplement the application and test whether they are successful.

The western end of the linear block opens onto the Gateway Plaza and works well as one of several buildings facing on to that space, and one side of a secondary campus entrance. However, the eastern end has a very different role and relationship to the campus. Although it has been strengthened in pre-application design development it still feels weak in comparison to the western end because it is exposed and it marks the edge of the science site for visitors arriving from the east and the vehicular campus entrance at Stockton Gate. More work is required to refine the expression of eastern end of the block, which needs to provide a stronger termination to the building and better definition of the public space around it. We suggest that it could be improved by going further in increasing the scale and turning the entrance to clearly address the direction of arrival from Stockton Road. Manipulation of the form and massing could help to better screen the existing chemistry block behind and ensure that the existing elevation is not prominent in views from the eastern approach.

Public realm and landscape design

We welcome the general simplification of the landscape proposal and its integration within a wider public realm strategy for the entire Science Site. Gateway Plaza has potential as a distinctive and well contained courtyard space. We support the aspiration to commission public art for the space but feel that the art should be fully integrated in the design.

Conclusion

We are supportive of this scheme in principle. It has the potential to be successful addition to the University of Durham. The amendments to the design proposed since CABE’s pre-application reviews have resulted in a significant improvement to the overall proposal. However, we recommend that further consideration is given to the articulation of the eastern end of the development at Stockton Gate before the application is determined.

Once the formal aspects of the scheme have been resolved the success of this development will ultimately be dependant on the quality of the detailed design and the choice of appropriate materials and, in this context, will be very sensitive to any reduction in quality. To assure itself that this will be an appropriately high quality development we recommend that the local authority should request more detailed information on the resolution of the complex three-dimensional geometry, including key construction details at 1:20 and 1:5 scale and more comprehensive three dimensional views, before the application is determined and apply conditions to ensure an appropriate level of control on materials, landscape design and design details.