Rutherford College, Kent

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Rutherford College, University of Kent


College name	Rutherford College
Named after	Ernest Rutherford
Established	1966
Master	Rachel Forrester-Jones
JCC President	Helen Palmer
Students

Rutherford College is the second oldest college of the University of Kent. It is located on the university's Canterbury campus and was established in 1966.^[1]

1 Namesake
2 College architecture
3 Dining
4 Rutherford Bar
5 References

[edit] Namesake

The college is named after Ernest Rutherford, the physicist and Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry. As Rutherford achieved fame in both Physics and Chemistry, it was felt that he was a particularly appropriate namesake given the University's original desire to break down the boundaries between disciplines.^[2] Rutherford was also an alumnus of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

[edit] College architecture

The basic design of the college is to a large extent a mirror of Eliot College, and was inspired by Louis Kahn's design for a residential block at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.^[3] The need to have three hundred study-bedrooms and several large areas for distinctive use, such as teaching, a common room and a dining hall plus kitchens, led to the adoption of a section design with the college divided into several square blocks, each containing a distinctive interior space with study bedrooms along all four walls. The Bryn Mawr residential block has three squares in a row, but faced with the need for an additional square for each college, it was decided to arrange the squares in a cruciform layout.^[3] A rumour on campus that everyone knows and believes is that Eliot and Rutherford were modelled on a Prison which is why they look so dark and dingy inside. It is also why it is so small in the rooms.

Due to the need to have the first two colleges built early, Rutherford was designed at the same time as Eliot and so consequently the design could not be adapted to take into account problems encountered with Eliot. Due to the contours of the hill on which the campus is built, the two colleges are not exactly alike and in later years annexe extensions and alterations were to further the differences.^[4]

As originally designed the college was poorly equipped for access by the mobility impaired and later adaptations have included the installation a lift and the opening up of some study bedroom corridors, now adapted into office space for academic departments, to provide a level free route through the college.

[edit] Dining

This is in addition to many vending machines in the corridors surrounding the new rutherford bar.

Rutherford Dining Hall
Bag it and go (Rutherford Dining Hall)

[edit] Rutherford Bar

Spring Term 2008: During the Winter 2007 term Kent union took over the ownership of the bar from Kent Hospitality. After an extensive refit beginning in the last week of this term and continuing over the Christmas holidays, it was remodelled structurally, this involved the movement of the bar to a more centralised position, a complete change of furntiure and lighting and replacing the balcony with glass panes. This unfortunately resulted in cutting off access to the Junior Common Room (JCR). The new name is "The Bar" and is advertised as RuTHErford BAR. It is more commonly considered as a Trendy Wine Bar amongst students, due to its al fresco menu and highest drinks prices on campus. It has no real ale and stout on tap.

Summer Term 2006: Rebranded as The Atom
Pre 2006: Rutherford Bar

[edit] References

^ About Kent - History - 1959-1969. University of Kent (2007-01-11). Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
^ Graham Martin, From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury (University of Kent at Canterbury, 1990) pages 124-126 ISBN 0-904938-03-4
^ ^a ^b Graham Martin, From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury (University of Kent at Canterbury, 1990) page 129 ISBN 0-904938-03-4
^ Graham Martin, From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury (University of Kent at Canterbury, 1990) page 127 ISBN 0-904938-03-4