University of Reading

The Grade II listed URS building is a landmark at the heart of the University of Reading’s Whiteknights campus. Designed by Howell, Killick, Partridge and Amis (HKPA) for the faculty of Urban and Regional Studies, the 1970s ‘Structuralist’ building has been only partially occupied in recent years due to its deteriorating condition.

The 120m long concrete structure is arranged around an internal circulation spine and features a substantial overhang to the north. The form is dictated by the original function of each floor resulting in an irregular plan of solids and voids. The building was listed in 2016 and was one of HKPA’s last higher education projects.

The proposed upgrades will bring the URS building back into full use, providing the University with a fit-for-purpose teaching and learning hub and a new home for the School of Construction Management and Engineering. Substantial environmental improvements will support the University of Reading’s sustainability strategy, with the design balancing improvements in thermal performance, creating spaces for students and staff that support modern teaching and learning methods, and respecting and preserving the listed fabric.

A major programme of repair and replacement will be undertaken to the external envelope to improve performance and secure the future of the building as the heart of the campus. Windows and external doors will be renewed throughout, a new roof and insulation installed, rooflights replaced and a programme of careful concrete repair carried out over the coming years.

Adopting a heritage-led approach and working with Purcell as heritage consultants, Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt’s scheme puts the expressed structure and original materials at the heart of the design. The scheme will retain, refurbish and enhance as many elements as possible. Timber glazed screens, a key heritage feature, will be revarnished and upgraded with new fire rated glass whilst woodwool ceilings removed with baffles made from the same material introduced to improve acoustics.

Improved accessibility and wayfinding are crucial parts of the brief. The building’s main entrance will be transformed and the secondary entrance significantly upgraded with both linked to informal social and study areas on the ground floor. The internal layout responds to the variable floor plan of the building, integrating new spaces within existing volumes. Smaller cellular spaces are primarily grouped on the narrower plan of the first floor, whilst teaching spaces for up to 120 students utilise the deeper plan of the second floor. Lecture theatres will be refurbished with new seating, timber panelling and suspended woodwall acoustic panels allowing the structure to be read.

As occupancy of the building will increase, new regulations demand improvements to fire escape requirements. Two of the three internal stairs will be upgraded with lobbies introduced, whilst two additional staircases will be introduced, on the south and east facades.