The Project
'The building designed by Cullum and Nightingale,
houses a library, computer-based learning facilities, offices, student
bar, common room and board room for the Central School of Speech
and Drama. It represents the third phase of a master-plan prepared
by these architects, who were appointed following competitive interview.
When completed, the plan will rationalise all the school's currently
scattered and fragmented facilities and accommodate them in appropriately
designed buildings on one site.
The Site
'The site immediately adjoins a conservation area and lies at the point
where the residential area of Belsize Park meets Swiss Cottage, with
its public buildings and main roads. Its narrow frontage is on Eton
Avenue, between the 19th-century terrace of villas on Adamson Road
and the existing Main Building of the School, which is of a slightly
later date. The houses are of stock brick with stone dressings. The
Main Building is rendered and houses the entrance to the Embassy
Theatre up a small flight of steps. The plot extends to include land
to the rear, which adjoins the gardens of Adamson Road houses and
those of Buckland Crescent to the north west.
The Problems
'In townscape terms, the problem at the front on the site was to create
an appropriate visual link between the Main Building and the Adamson
Road villas. At the rear is was to avoid producing a bulky structure
which loomed over adjacent gardens. In planning terms the problem
was to produce a building on the narrow site which would accommodate
all the uses specified in the brief in suitable, well-lit, congenial
spaces. The library, in particular, required a large volume space
for book stacks and work stations which would be attractive to readers
and would provide appropriate levels of privacy. This building had
to work both alone and as part of the eventual masterplan. Neighbouring
occupiers has understandable concerns about noise and over-looking.
The prospect of considerable new development in the immediate vicinity,
including the building of new premises for the Hampstead Theatre
opposite, meant that there was a changing contect to anticipate and
deal with.
The Solutions
'The building is of five storeys on the street. The floor levels are aligned
with those of the neighbouring houses and the window openings are
of the same scale, though without any decorative detailing. The student
bar and common room in the basement are screened from view by a stone
wall which is set away from the front of the building to allow light
to enter behind it. This relates visually to the materials of the
adjoining houses, but above that level the elevation is built of
rich, strongly-coloured red brick. Apart from a stone cornice, this
elevation is un-ornamented. The adoption of scale and rhythm from
the neighbouring domestic buildings shows a good-mannered sensitivity
to them. The use of contrasting material, which is beautiful in its
own right, demonstrates that this is an independent construction
and acts as a foil to the Main Building on the other side.
'The library runs from the front to the back of the building and sits
as low down as possible at the rear of the site. It is largely top-lit,
which provides plenty of light to desks and work stations without
over-looking the neighbours. The shaping of the building to the irregualr
site produces a polygonal form which makes an exciting space. The
offices make the best use of the available light at the front of
the building and at the sides above the library level, and the staff
common room on the top floor has the advantage of a sunny terrace
behind the cornice.
Lessons
'This project is working very well for the clients and is liked very much
by them. Debbie Scully, the Deputy Principal of the School, says
'We are really happy with the building and are particularly pleased
that there have been no complaints from our neighbours since it was
completed'. The project demonstrates that it is possible to incorporate
institutional, large-scale uses within a predominiantly domestic
context without causing disruption. It shows that careful discussions
with neighbouring occupiers and the local planning authority and
a willingness to compromise can lead to solutions that take account
of external pressures and constraints but do not weaken a building's
character. It shows that it is possible to combine sensitivity and
due deference to historic surroundings with confident expression
of individuality and a modern identity.'
