Florey Building with attached walls and abutments, Oxford, Oxfordshire

Summary

Florey Building, a residential student block, designed by James Stirling and Partners in 1966-1967 for Queen's College, Oxford, and built 1968-1971, with Roy Cameron as associate, and Frank Newby of F J Samuely and Partners as engineer.

Description

MATERIALS: the reinforced-concrete structure is clad in panels of red ceramic tiles, as are the retaining wall of the courtyard (the tiled surface of the courtyard was replaced by grass in the late C20 or early C21), the podium, and the interior floors and stairs of the vestibule and breakfast room. The cloister wall and retaining walls are constructed of red engineering brick. Where the A-frame structure is exposed, it is fair-faced concrete. The glazed walls comprise clear or black patent glazing in aluminium frames (of clear vertical and black horizontal members). The interior walls and ceilings are white painted plaster, with dry mounted acoustic partitions. The floors of the bedrooms retain a high proportion of original cork tiles (some renewed), while the cork floors of the stairs and corridors, and vinyl floors of the service rooms were replaced by linoleum in the late C20 or early C21.

PLAN: the building is roughly semi-circular, or ‘horseshoe’, in plan, facing north to the River Cherwell, and is formed by five straight sections, or ‘arms’, of accommodation, the south-east arm of which is elongated. The building is raised above a ground-floor cloister and courtyard by 11 regularly-spaced, reinforced concrete A-frames, which form a colonnade. Nestled under the east and west arms are two small, flat-roofed and curved, single-storey buildings containing a porter’s flat and vestibule respectively. Parallel with the south-east arm are twin circulation towers, linked to the main building by glazed corridors. The building half encloses a central courtyard which features a raised podium to the north-west corner over a raised basement breakfast room, on which stands a sculptural vent and wind vane.

EXTERIOR: the outer (street-facing) elevation of the Florey Building has four storeys of accommodation (the top floor of which is double-height containing a mezzanine), raised above a ground-floor cloister. The façade of the upper floors is clad with panels of the same red tiles as the Leicester and Cambridge buildings of the 'Red Trilogy', and like traditional collegiate buildings turns its back on the town so as to create a private space for the members of the college. The bulbous form of the building swells outwards on the first, second and third floors, before a vertical fourth floor and mezzanine. The red walls are substantially blind, articulated only by a short band of clerestory windows to each floor, and an entirely glazed mezzanine to the fourth floor. These upper floors are supported by a series of 11 reinforced-concrete A-frames, which are exposed on the ground and first floor of the outer (street-facing) elevation. The twin circulation towers, similar to the Leicester and Cambridge buildings, mark the main point of entry to both the courtyard and the upper residential floors, and beside the porter’s lodge, are a modern interpretation of the collegiate gatehouse. The towers are linked to the upper floors of the student accommodation by glazed corridors, which reduce in length as the building swells outwards. At the north end of the east and west elevations, an angled glazed box projects approximately one metre from the sloping tiled façade at each half landing of the fire escape stairs, providing views from the stair to the river. The semi-circular building is terminated by blank gable ends to the river, which reinforce the bulbous profile of the exterior, and cascading glazed walls of the courtyard. Nested under the A-frames are a single-storey flat-roofed porter’s lodge (east side) and vestibule (west side, leading to the upper floors and basement breakfast room), both with curved glazed walls (some of the windows of the porter’s lodge were replaced by uPVC in the late C20 or early C21). Both glazed structures are attached to a wall constructed of red engineering brick, which runs the length of the building under the A-frames, separating the outside (public) from the courtyard (private), and providing shelter for bicycle parking on each side. An opening in the red brick wall, adjacent the porter’s lodge and opposite the entrance to the twin circulation towers, provides access to the courtyard via a plain metal gate.

The inner or front (courtyard) elevation is concave, gently sloping backwards like the tiering of an amphitheatre, with glass cascading from the vertical double-height fourth floor over a staggered and sloped third, second and first floor. The walls are continuously glazed, with uninterrupted views over the courtyard, meadow and city beyond. The patent glazing system, also used at Leicester and Cambridge, has closely-spaced slender aluminium glazing bars and tall narrow glass panes. The fenestration incorporates ventilation louvres at the upper and lower level of each floor, and aluminium window-cleaning ladders at each level. The upper sections of the A-frames are visible through the glazing, and are exposed on the ground floor where they form a covered walkway or cloister, approximately 3 metres wide, under the raised building. Openings in the red-brick wall provide direct access to the courtyard from the east escape stair, the porter’s lodge, and west escape stair and breakfast room. The cloister is separated from the raised courtyard by a red-tiled plinth wall, with narrow flights of red-tiled steps cutting into the raised courtyard, in line with the corner of each arm of the building. The raised courtyard, formerly tiled and now with a grass covering, has 9 wide red-tiled steps to an angled square-plan podium in the north-west corner, also the roof of the semi-sunken breakfast room. The podium retains a sculptural weather vane (formerly painted Stirling’s signature shade of bright green), which also acts as a ventilator to the breakfast room below. The breakfast room has sloped clerestory windows to its north-west and north-east elevations to the river. The north side of the courtyard and podium are bounded by a monumental floating tiled handrail, similar to that at Cambridge. From the north-west corner of the cloister, a red-tiled ramp descends along the north side of the courtyard to the riverside walk. The riverside walk has concrete paving, a monumental floating cast-concrete rail on slender supports, and a concrete punt mooring. While it was originally intended that the main pedestrian access would be via the riverside walk and ramp, the riverside walk was not completed by the Council, and the building can now only be accessed from the vehicular entrance from the south-east (St Clements).

INTERIOR: the building contains 19 double-height bedrooms and a fellow’s apartment on the fourth floor with mezzanine sleeping galleries over, 58 single bedrooms of varying sizes on the third, second and first floors, a glazed porter’s flat and vestibule at ground-floor level, and a semi-sunken basement breakfast room. All the bedrooms are located on the inner (courtyard) side of a corridor which runs the length of each floor, while the outer (street-facing) side of the corridors house the service rooms. All walls and ceilings are painted plaster, with dry-mounted acoustic partitions between rooms, and joinery painted a Cotswold stone colour. The student bedrooms were designed to have under-floor electric heating and cork flooring, and vary in size between 10 and 22.7 square metres. The minimum width of the regular-shaped rooms is 3m and the minimum depth, excluding storage is 3.7m, allowing flexibility in the arrangement of bed furniture. The entrance wall is a continuous storage unit, containing bookshelves, cupboards, and a wash basin. The glazed wall overlooking the courtyard formerly had silver roller blinds, drawn from ceiling to floor (originally intended by Stirling to be drawn from floor to ceiling), however these were replaced by curtains in the late C20 or early C21, when secondary glazing was introduced to the first, second and third floor bedrooms (the double-height rooms on the fourth floor retain their original single glazing). Natural ventilation is provided by two sets of hand-operated glass louvres close to the ground and ceiling, continuous across the width of the room and building. The double-height rooms on the fourth floor have internal timber stairs leading to a sleeping gallery, bounded by a tubular-steel balustrade and handrail (intermediate posts introduced in the late C20 or early C21). The fellow’s apartment is 49 square metres, and comprises a principal sitting room, and two rooms which could be used as two bedrooms, or a bedroom and study. On the outer (street-facing) side of the corridors, small service rooms provide four lavatories, two bathrooms, two shower rooms, and storage rooms on each floor. The corridors and stairs formerly had a cork tile covering, and the service rooms a vinyl covering, both replaced by lino in the late C20 or early C21. At the junctions of the arms where there are no service rooms, these angles, referred to as ‘gyp’ areas, were intended to be small communal areas, though no furniture survives. Access is provided to each floor via a main stair and lift in the twin towers. As at Cambridge, secondary stairs at each end of the corridors provide connections between each internal floor, and fire escape to the north-east and north-west ends of the cloister. Throughout the building, each stair and gallery has tubular-steel railings, formerly painted Stirling’s signature bright shade of green, however these were painted white and intermediate horizontal and vertical safety rails introduced in the late C20 or early C21. The stairs from the breakfast room to the glazed vestibule, and from the vestibule to the first floor, retain red-tile steps. The semi-sunken basement under the podium accommodates a communal breakfast room, kitchen and servery counter, with slender mushroom pillars, red-tiled floors, and high-level clerestory windows (providing privacy from the riverside walk). The glazed porter’s office and flat adjacent the main entrance retains its original layout.

History

The Florey Building, designed by James Stirling and Partners for Queen's College, Oxford, was named in honour of Nobel laureate Sir Howard Florey (1898-1968), Provost of Queen’s College from 1962 to 1968. Lord Florey was on a mission to attract the brightest research students and publicity, in order to attract funding, for which he required ‘a distinguished building by a distinguished architect’ (quoted by Berman, 2010). A number of young, pioneering architects were interviewed, including Ahrends, Burton and Koralek (ABK); Philip Dowson of Arup Associates; Howell and Partridge of Howell, Killick, Partridge and Amis (HKPA); and James Stirling. Lord Florey was determined to appoint Stirling, who was chosen on the basis of his highly acclaimed Engineering Building at Leicester University, and History Faculty at Cambridge, as well as unrealised designs for student accommodation at Churchill College and Selwyn College in Cambridge.

Sir James Stirling (1924-1992) was born in Glasgow and studied at Liverpool University before setting up in partnership first with James Gowan (from 1956 to 1963), and then with Michael Wilford from 1971. The Florey Building is the third building in Stirling’s ‘Red Trilogy’, the Engineering Faculty at the University of Leicester being the first (in partnership with Gowan, designed in 1959 and built 1961-1963, listed at Grade II*), and the History Faculty Building at Cambridge being the second (designed in partnership with Gowan, but essentially by Stirling who split from Gowan in 1963, built 1964-1968, listed at Grade II). Other notable works in Britain include: Langham House Close at Richmond Upon Thames (1957-1958, listed at Grade II*); Andrew Melville Hall at the University of St Andrews (1964, listed Grade A); an extension to Branksome Conference Centre in Haslemere, Surrey for Olivetti (1971-1972, listed Grade II*); and No.1 Poultry, City of London (1994-1998, listed at Grade II*).

James Stirling was among the first post-war British architects to achieve widespread international standing, and one of the first to work abroad. In 1974 he was invited to design museums in Düsseldorf and Stuttgart. Notable in Europe are: his award-winning extension to the Neue Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart (1979-1984), generally regarded as his masterpiece, Stuttgart Music School and Theatre Academy (1987), and the Braun Headquarters at Melsungen (1992), all in Germany; the Electra bookshop for the Venice Biennale, Italy (1989); and in North America, the Fogg Museum extension at Harvard University (1985). Stirling received the Aalto Award in 1977, the RIBA Gold Medal in 1980, and in 1981 was the first British recipient of the Pritzker Prize, considered the world’s leading award to an architect. He was awarded the Japanese culture prize ‘Praemium Imperiale’ in 1990, and his knighthood was announced in 1992, shortly before his death. The Stirling Prize, the UK’s most prestigious architecture prize, was founded in 1996 in his memory. Subject of a biography by Mark Girouard in 1998, the last few years have seen a revival of interest in the architect’s work, marked by the publication of a number of studies by authors including Geoffrey H Baker, Mark Crinson, Amanda Reeser Lawrence and Anthony Vidler.

The project brief for the Florey Building initially sought between 100 and 130 student rooms and a breakfast room (the students would take their other meals and socialise in the main college buildings half a mile away), within a tight budget of £300,000. Stirling commenced his design work in 1965, and was soon asked to advise on the merits of a site being offered to the college by Oxford City Council at St Clements, all of which was intended for student housing and for which a master plan was drawn up soon after Stirling’s work began. The brief stipulated three features evident in Stirling’s early sketches and which remain significant elements of the design as built: the site was to be connected to the town by a riverside walk which was intended to become the primary access route for students (never completed by the Council, and so the Florey could only be accessed from the rear vehicular entrance from St Clements); buildings were to have courtyards opening northwards and overlooking the river; and pedestrians should filter into the development from the river, walking through and under the colonnades. Other changes made to the brief during design included repositioning the access road and removing the requirement for a boathouse and an underground car park.

Stirling’s solution was a dramatic horseshoe-shaped building which turned its back on the derelict land behind, and provided a vertiginous glass facade overlooking the River Cherwell, Angel and Greyhound Meadow, and the historic city beyond. As with Stirling’s designs for Selwyn College and the Leicester Engineering Building (both with Gowan), and the History Faculty Building at Cambridge, the Florey Building explores themes of enclosure, the inside representing the private domain and the outside representing the public domain. Stirling’s design for the Florey Building provided 58 single bedrooms of varying sizes on the first, second and third floors, and 19 double-height rooms and a fellow’s flat on the fourth floor, all raised over a cloister, and overlooking a central courtyard, podium and sculptural vent and wind vane. Of the form of the Florey Building, Stirling explained: ‘it was intended that you could recognise the historic elements of courtyard, entrance gate and cloisters; also a central object replacing the traditional fountain or statue of the college founder. In this way we hoped the students and public would not be disassociated from their cultural past’ (Stirling, 1975).

It is thought that the amphitheatre-like form of the glazed facade may have been inspired by a family trip to the Theatre of Epidaurus in 1965, which Stirling is known to have photographed. The sculptural form and materials clearly draw inspiration from the works of Alvar Aalto, notably the red stepped facades of his Baker House Dormitory at MIT (1946-1949), which Stirling may well have visited when he was teaching at Yale; and the glazed amphitheatre-like inner courtyard of the Technical University in Helsinki (completed in 1966). Stirling’s father-in-law, the architectural critic P Morton Shand, knew Aalto personally and promoted his architecture and furniture, examples of which (the famous three-legged stool) were supplied for the rooms of the Florey.

The use of red engineering brick, red ceramic tile and expansive patent glazing characterise Stirling’s work during this period, with the Leicester Engineering Building, History Faculty Building, and Florey Building being collectively known as the ‘Red Trilogy’. The building’s concrete frame was designed by Frank Newby (1926-2001), a senior partner at Felix J Samuely & Partners, who made his name working on the ‘Skylon’ building for the Festival of Britain (1951), Saarinen’s American Embassy in London (1960), and Cedric Price’s Aviary at London Zoo (1962). Newby worked with Stirling on each of the ‘Red Trilogy’ buildings, and later with Stirling and Wilford on the Clore Gallery extension to the Tate (1987).

Having driven the project through all its stages, Lord Florey died the week that construction began in January 1968. One of the project’s few supporters at the college, John Prestwich, did his best to replace him but there was a breakdown in relations with Stirling, culminating in a legal battle, an intense dislike of the building throughout the college, a reluctance to spend anything but the minimum on maintenance, and decades later, to the possibility of demolition. Criticism of Stirling and the design centred on four technical areas: the thermal performance of the patent glazing system; the acoustic performance of the walls between rooms; the fixing of the red tiles to external surfaces (owing to poor workmanship); and the practice’s failure to deliver information on time. The final cost was the same as initially predicted by the quantity surveyors: £380,000 against the agreed £300,000, while construction took 38 months rather than the anticipated 21 months. The Florey Building was opened by Her Majesty the Queen Mother in April 1971. Secondary glazing and curtains were introduced to the bedrooms, and the tiling of the courtyard replaced by grass in the late C20 or early C21.

Reasons for Listing

The Florey Building, a residential student block, designed by James Stirling and Partners in 1966-1967 for Queen's College, Oxford, and built 1968-1971, is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* as a highly significant work by Sir James Stirling, one of Britain’s foremost post-war architects;
* as the last of a triumvirate of university buildings that are without doubt amongst Stirling’s most significant works in England;
* as a highly creative re-working of a familiar formal language, executed with masterful handling of form and colour, characteristic of Stirling’s style;
* for the high degree of survival of the original plan form, fixtures and fittings, which have been little altered since the building’s completion, including but not limited to the bedrooms, porter’s lodge, and breakfast room;
* as a distinctive and popular piece of post-war university architecture.

Historic interest:
* for Stirling’s new approach to residential architecture in a college context, during a period when the universities were at the forefront of architectural patronage;
* within the context of the historic city of Oxford, the Florey takes forward the long history of exceptional college building, not least in its innovative plan-form.

Group value:
* for the strong functional group the Florey forms with the nearby university buildings of Queen’s College (approximately 550 metres to the north-west), the ranges of which are each listed at Grade I;
* for the strong geographic group the Florey forms with the historic university buildings of Magdalen College and the Botanic Gardens (listed at Grade I), Magdalen Bridge over the River Cherwell (listed at Grade II*), a number of commercial buildings on St Clement’s Street (listed at Grade II), and the park and pleasure grounds of Magdalen College (registered at Grade I).

External Links

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