University of Greenwich - Library and Academic Building
University of Greenwich - Library and Academic Building
We were structural engineers with Heneghan Peng Architects on a new University Library and School of Architecture at the University of Greenwich, which was shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize.
The highly constrained site lies in the UNESCO World Heritage Site and the West Greenwich Conservation Area. It is surrounded by a number of listed residential buildings, a Network Rail cutting and Hawksmoor’s Grade I St Alfege Church.
The project carried a large brief: a new library, School of Architecture & Landscape, TV and film studios, galleries and a café. The building is arranged as a series of “fingers”, with open light-wells between, providing daylighting through the building and broken down into a series of finely scaled blocks, with varied heights in step with the surrounding Georgian streets. This complex, articulated façade with stone and precast concrete cladding provides the main frontage. Internally, a robust, largely exposed structure underpins flexible teaching floors. Long, clear spans support open studios; services are coordinated visibly to ease adaptation. As engineers, we worked closely to develop the building, which is principally an in-situ, exposed reinforced concrete frame that prioritises thermal mass and, airtightness. Its high quality finishes to columns, slabs and walls required careful coordination with the architect and contractor.
The completed building comprises expansive floorplates for library stacks and reading rooms, organised for calm, even light, with acoustic treatment and controlled glare. Study spaces are distributed to balance quiet areas with collaborative zones. Vertical circulation is straightforward and legible, bringing together studios, crit spaces and shared workshops to encourage cross-disciplinary working.
Roofscapes are a defining element: 14 planted terraces and research gardens with soil depths of up to 600mm form the largest multi-functional green roof in Europe and provide outdoor studios and living laboratories (including an aquaponics unit) for teaching and research, while attenuating stormwater, improving biodiversity and moderating heat gain.
Client: University of Greenwich
Architects: Heneghan Peng Architects