Bond Bryan’s latest project for the University of Sheffield has just received planning permission meaning work on site is expected to start in 2017 with a 2018 completion.
Following the establishment of a Development Framework by Bond Bryan’s Strategic Team, and a successful design competition entry, this third phase of the St George’s Campus redevelopment is the culmination of Bond Bryan’s work with the Faculty of Engineering.
The Engineering Heartspacewill sit beneath a dramatic undulating glass roof structure, providing a unique space for the whole of the Faculty. The four-storey atrium, inserted between the Grade II listed Mappin Building and the 1885 Central Wing, will house new highly serviced laboratories, offices and a café, as well as providing a ‘collaboration space’ for students and staff from different departments.
A connection to Portobello Street will provide an additional destination on the pedestrian route that links a range of campus facilities including the Students’ Union, the Information Commons (Learning Centre) and the University’s tram stop.
The design responds to both the historical heritage of the site as well as the ambition of the Faculty. The contemporary curved roof design contrasts with the existing formal brick buildings, floating across the tops of the existing roofs and creating a clear distinction between the old and the new. However the design takes visual cues from the Mappin building’s original “Star of David” ventilation outlets with its own interlocking triangular glass and solid roof panels. The proposed new triangular steel tree columns are also deliberately positioned to frame key features of the existing buildings.
Matt Hutton, Associate Director and the project’s concept designer said, “We believe that the honesty, of having a highly-engineered roof adjacent to the historic brick walls and slate roofs of the existing buildings, is about celebrating the engineering of both the past and the present, inviting the building user to look at both in more detail. This surely is what renovation and conservation is about, engaging with the user and the wider public, bringing these buildings back to prominence.”
The Heartspace development will provide the University with a total gross internal floor area of around 12,400sqm of combined new build, refurbished and reconfigured existing space.