University of Roehampton - The Dorothy Buchanan Building
University of Roehampton - The Dorothy Buchanan Building
We provided engineering advice for a new centre for the study of sustainable engineering and technology which now provides industry-leading facilities for students and supports the UK’s journey to achieve net-zero by 2050.
The University of Roehampton was seeking a new home for its Sustainable Engineering and Technology Department, within its School of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment (CEBE). They identified two historic but unlisted buildings from 1882 and 1911 within the Digby Stuart Campus, one of which was originally part of a French Catholic Convent.
The aim of the project was to enhance the environmental performance of these buildings, improve accessibility, and reconfigure the internal layout - originally housing drama studios - to suit the new teaching and laboratory requirements.
Targeting BREEAM Excellent, the project combined fabric upgrades, with existing materials reused where possible, reducing embodied carbon. Building systems were designed to accommodate future low-carbon technologies and evolving environmental standards, serving as an exemplar case study for students. We worked to keep structural interventions to a minimum and targeted structural alterations to accommodate the routing of new services. A key aspect of this was to carefully thread a new lift shaft into the building, which was done in a way which retains the existing floor slabs.
The completed building features flexible learning spaces, collaborative studios, and state-of-the-art labs that simulate real-world engineering environments. Where many of the existing spaces were dark and cluttered, the design now emphasises openness and adaptability, with improved natural light and ventilation.
Dorothy Buchanan, the first woman elected to membership of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) in 1927, was a pioneering engineer. The building is now a dynamic hub for sustainable engineering and technology, with studios, specialist labs, a fabrication workshop, dedicated CAD suite and creative spaces.
Client: University of Roehampton
Architect: FeildenCleggBradley Studios