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Outside the Postdoc Centre

Category: Development

19 July 2018

Stirling Prize Shortlist

Stirling prize shortlist: Storey’s Field Centre and Eddington Nursery selected as one of the best buildings in the country
Storey’s Field Centre and Eddington Nursery have been shortlisted for the 2018 RIBA Stirling Prize which recognises the best building in the UK.

The new community buildings by the University of Cambridge and designed by architects MUMA combine quality design and high sustainability credentials and sit at the civic heart of the new district in Cambridge called Eddington.

The Storey’s Field Centre and Eddington Nursery building designed by architects MUMA has been shortlisted for the 2018 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize. The community facilities sit at the civic heart of the new neighbourhood in Cambridge, called Eddington, developed by the University of Cambridge.
The RIBA Stirling Prize recognises the best buildings in the UK and the Storey’s Field Centre and Eddington Nursery is on the shortlist of six after winning a National RIBA Award and three RIBA Regional awards for outstanding design: a RIBA East Award, the Sustainability Award and the RIBA East Building of the Year Award.
Heather Topel, Project Director of the North West Cambridge Development, said: “RIBA recognises some of the best quality architecture in the country and we are delighted to have been shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize for this exceptional building.

“The University and MUMA have worked extensively with local communities to create a new community building and performing arts venue, as well as a nursery, which people locally and beyond can take great pleasure in visiting. The Centre and wider Eddington community is a place of which we hope Cambridge will be exceptionally proud.”

The Storey’s Field Centre opened in 2018 and has a programme of community and cultural events for the Eddington residents, wider Cambridge population and beyond. It is run through a joint venture between the University of Cambridge and Cambridge City Council.

The Storey’s Field Centre is now open and hosts community and live performance events. For more information visit www.storeysfield.org.uk

The Eddington Nursery will open in September 2018 as a facility for the University and local community. For more information visit https://www.childcare.admin.cam.ac.uk/

Tours of the Storey’s Field Centre and Eddington Nursery will be available by the architects MUMA on 15 September 2018 as part of the Open Cambridge festival. Information is available at https://www.opencambridge.cam.ac.uk/ and bookings open on 13 August.

The winner of the 2018 RIBA Stirling Prize will be announced in October 2018.

 

The judges’ full citation is below:

This is the very highest quality architecture. It shows how an architect can add joy, an enhanced experience of materials and human dimension to every part of a building. The spaces in the nursery are worthy of a much more sophisticated audience, but are always based around the scale and activities in each space. Where small windows are needed they are arranged in the pattern of constellations of stars (even with the correct orientation), where a decorative circular window from the enclosed garden is made out of a ventilation inlet grille, it is evidence of the skill, imagination and continuous attention to detail of the architect. This is a truly well-crafted building, where material or technology is only used where it is needed.

The Community Centre and Nursery are linked operationally, so that a sense of space from views of the playground, daylight and ventilation are brought into the café but without compromising the privacy of the children. Where spaces have dual uses, like the external garden outside the wedding venue which can be used as a quiet reading room for the Nursery; the competing needs of the users are balanced and the management of the building is happy to make the extra effort (opening doors or moving furniture) to make it all work.

The Community Hall itself has been designed to become a more important place in the new community at Storey’s Field, to become its civic centre or town hall. It offers opportunities for weddings, music concerts, funerals, political debate, which gives it a significance above and beyond a space for hobbies, exercise, local groups and kids parties. To address this enhanced symbolic value for the community, the architects stepped the building side wards to address a longer view in the masterplan, and set it back to create a gathering space outside the Hall and a parents’ drop-off space outside the Nursery. To complete the sense of civic pride, the external walls of the Hall are lined with comfortable seats to stop and chat to neighbours while you wait to enter.

The inside of the Hall is a beautiful balance of function, sustainability (it is vented naturally using an underground labyrinth), acoustic performance and expression of materials. The patterned brickwork of the enclosing wall acts to break up the reflections of music or speech to provide a good acoustic, but also suggests patterns of geology in the surrounding landscape. The amount of daylight or the feel of the acoustics can be changed by simply dropping or rising blinds so users can control the environment without complex management systems. Even the access stair to the plant on the roof is via a sculptural spiral staircase that takes its part in performances.

This is an example of the very best in British architectural design, when it is this good it offers ideas, skill and care in ways that transform the human use and experience of this building at every opportunity.

The Nursery and Community Centre have been assessed for environmental sustainability using the BREEAM methodology and are on track to be certified “Excellent” and “Outstanding” respectively. Natural ventilation has been elegantly integrated into the architectural form with stack ventilation drawing air passively into the main hall via an underground labyrinth, this naturally moderates the temperature. The BREEAM standard is also reflected in the attention to detail giving to acoustics and quality of daylight. High quality robust finishes, and design measures to cope with future climate change, should ensure the building stands the test of time. A beautiful and biodiverse landscape design incorporates rehomed orchard trees that were no longer commercially viable. The project integrates with an ambitious masterplan for North West Cambridge with underfloor heating derived from a central combined heat and power plant, a rainwater main supplying the toilets, and new bus service and cycle route.

 

The 2018 RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist is:

  • Bloomberg, London by Foster + Partners
    A highly-innovative new workplace in the City of London, commissioned by an ambitious civic-minded client, which pushes architecture’s boundaries and seeks to enhance the neighbouring public realm.
  • Bushey Cemetery, Hertfordshire by Waugh Thistleton Architects
    An extraordinary spiritual building formed of natural rammed earth walls, oak and rusted steel, with the beliefs and customs of the Jewish faith at its heart.
  • Chadwick Hall, University of Roehampton, London by Henley Halebrown
    Three new, intelligent buildings which surround the Grade II-listed Georgian Downshire House and provide high-quality student housing for Roehampton University, built on a modest budget.
  • New Tate St Ives, Cornwall by Jamie Fobert Architects with Evans & Shalev
    An ingenious reconfiguration and extension of the Postmodern art gallery which doubles the exhibition space, creates a new public walkway connecting the town to the beach and helps St.Ives attract a growing number of international visitors.
  • Storey’s Field Community Centre and Nursery, Cambridge by MUMA
    A breath-taking building, commissioned by the University, for the new community of North-West Cambridge. Inspired by the college cloisters and courts of the City, this project has a sustainability agenda at its core.
  • The Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre, Worcester College, Oxford by Niall McLaughlin Architects
    A floating auditorium crafted from classic Oxford stone and natural oak to blend exquisitely into the established landscape of Worcester College.
Outside the Postdoc Centre
Storey's Field Centre
Eddington Nursery
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