Towers Hall is a Hall of Residence accommodating 310 students at Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, United Kingdom, it is located on the 'East Park' of the University's campus.[1]
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Towers was designed by Gollins Melvin Ward & Partners Chartered Architects of London in 1963, who were also designers of much of University of Sheffield, the British Airways terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York and the Royal Military Academy building. The building was originally the proposed by John Bridgeman, the Principal of the Loughborough Teacher Training College. Bridgeman retired in 1963, and the building was completed in the time of the next principal, John Hardie.
Built during 1964-5 by William Moss & Sons Ltd, based in Loughborough, the construction process was not without event as the building began to subside at 8 storeys high as a result of a marsh which lay where Butler Court, a more recent Hall of Residence, now sits, so building work had to be postponed while concrete was pumped into the foundations of the structure.
The building is 210ft (64m) high in total; The East tower is about 157ft (48m) and the West about 183ft (56m). Although the building was finished in 1966 Towers was first used for accommodation in September 1967.[1] The building is a Locally Listed Building of important interest, its description on Charnwood Borough Council's record states that it is a severe ‘modern’ high rise block comprising 2 towers of 22 and 18 storeys linked by a central access tower and is significant for its cold, grey modular pre-cast concrete construction. [2]
In 1967 the rent per academic year (including meals) was just £310 pounds. In 2007 the equivalent cost was £4,063 for 35 weeks. [3] From the academic year beginning September 2009, Towers Hall (and bar) will be closed for major refurbishment. Students applying to be in Towers will be transferred to Old Elvyn rooms, which are smaller. A 35 week let will increase in price by £300 above last year, however, to £4,545.80. Many other student halls in Loughborough are changing their tariffs to longer 39 week lets; Towers is expected to follow suit after refurbishment.
Initially the hall was segregated by gender when it opened in 1967 - with the east tower allocated for men, and the west tower to women. In 1977 the College of Education amalgamated with the University. Shortly after this time, from September 1978 the separation became more relaxed.
Other subsequent changes have been the removal of the rooftop laundry room from the 21st floor and the enclosure of the base of the tower. (It was originally possible to walk right under the structure from one side to the other.)
The physical layout of each tower differs.
The East tower has 17 floors, each containing 6 bedroom (A-F), a small kitchen, a shower and a toilet. This tower is made up of concrete modules based on a distinctive six sided plan. All the bedrooms thus have six walls. The door to each bedroom - located opposite the window - opens into a central shared hallway. An access route to the central hallway from the lift and stairs - and also the facilities - are accommodated in two further similarly proportioned modules. Eight modules in total fit together symmetrically - in a ring - to form each floor of the East tower.
The larger West tower floors have 11 bedrooms (A-L), two bathrooms, two toilets and a larger kitchen on each of the 20 floors that accommodate students. The extra rooms are created by regularly interspersing the same modules (as used in the east tower) with - additionally - four "squarer" bedroom modules. Each bedroom opens onto an annular corridor hallway, which encircles the facilities. Thus eight "6 sided" and four "squarer" modules - twelve in total - fit together symmetrically in a ring to form each floor of the West tower.[4]
The building has lifts in the centre core serving both towers. The lifts on the east side stop at even numbered floors, and the west side lifts stop at odd floors. There are also a number of student storage rooms located around the hall.