University of Bolton, Design Studio Project
| Contact Details: | Mike Lomas, Head of Collaborative Partnerships and Employer Engagement, M.lomas@bolton.ac.uk Andy Smith, Business Development Manager, Design Studio, A.Smith@bolton.ac.uk |
| Type of Project: |
The Project has aspects of both a new build and a refurbishment. The building was originally 8 storeys and the top five floors were removed. The remaining three floors were reconfigured and made into the Design Studio - the inside is now completely different to how it looked originally. This was done as it made economical sense - it was cheaper to reduce and renovate the original building than to knock it down and re-build. |
| Start/End Date: | It has been open since summer 2003 and the project took 18 months to complete. |
Success Factors
What Makes The Space Successful?
The large number of students using it.
The flexibility is important - students can drop in and use equipment and can handle whole range of activities from formal to informal activities and workshops.
The overall ambience is great - it's a very pleasant building to work in - students appreciate that and, in the main, have been quite respectful of it. There has been very little abuse to date. Staff and students together are enjoying it. A client group was created to identify snags along the way after the building was completed - there were not too many problems and these are now resolved.
An assessment for HEFCE on the value of the build and the contribution it has made is to be produced.
What Is Innovative About The Design And The Use Of The Space?
From the outset it was imperative that the building made a statement from a Design perspective - so that it went beyond a functional building and was actually a source of inspiration to the students.
It has its quirky features. It has a projection screen that's two storeys high, made up of lots of glass panes in a framework. The idea for the screen came from a theatre trip made by the architect - the theatre had a large projection screen adjacent to an external glass wall to allow the theatre to promote itself within the community. The original idea was that the building would be a beacon at night to all those around it - and people outside would be able to see the screen as it lit up the dark - but there are issues with this - re: how bright it has to be to be really effective and the view of the screen from outside is broken up by the floor divisions. In practice it's likely that the screen will be of more value to users inside the building - giving them design perspectives. It is essentially a shop window for design work.
