Halls of residence at University College London

This is a list of the halls of residence at University College London in London, England.

Ramsay Hall

Ramsay Hall is a building located in London used primarily as a hall of residence for students of University College London.

History

The building was designed by Maxwell Fry and constructed between 1951 and 1954.[1] It is situated on Maple Street in central London, on the border of Fitzrovia and Bloomsbury and around one hundred metres from Tottenham Court Road.[2] The building is located within the Bloomsbury Conservation Area.[2] It occupies the same block as, and forms a single unified building with, the YMCA Indian Student Hostel designed by Ralph Tubbs and was constructed at the same time.[1] The building contains around 450 bedrooms, a dining hall and a number of common rooms and surrounds a central courtyard.[2] In 2008 the building received a major refurbishment and an 8-storey extension containing 91 rooms was added, at a total cost of £8 million.[3] The architects for the project were Levitt Bernstein and it won a Camden Building Excellence Award in 2009.[3][4] The new extension was subsequently awarded a BREEAM 'very good' rating.[3] In 2010 a further 10 bedrooms were added to the building.[5]

Residents

Notable former residents include all four members of the British band Coldplay, who met whilst living at the hall.[6][7]

Hostel

Outside of UCL term time the building serves as a hostel.[8][9][10] There are numerous images of the building within the Courtauld Institute of Art's Conway Collection.[11]

James Lighthill House

James Lighthill House is located on Penton Rise near the Pentonville Road intersection. It contains 209[12] single en suite rooms across a large main block and a smaller 'lodge' in the courtyard. All flats are self-catered[13] and share a communal kitchen cleaned once a week by staff. There is a laundrette on site and a large common room with vending machines and pool table. The closest tube stations to the halls are King's Cross St. Pancras tube station and Angel tube station.

History

James Lighthill House and Paul Robeson House, another hall of residence for the School of Oriental and African Studies, are both on the site of a former steel-stockbroking depot, owned and operated by Macready's Metal Co. Ltd.[14] The original warehouse, built in 1935, was designed by M. Stanley Blanchfield of Raynes Park.

The current building was designed by the British architectural design firm Levitt Bernstein on the site of an existing hall of residence.[15] It has a wave-shaped façade to allow light inside more easily, while maintaining privacy.[16] The building was opened in 2007.

Sir Michael James Lighthill, FRS (1924–1998) was an applied mathematician who is known for his pioneering work in the field of aeroacoustics. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, a chair he held until 1979, when he was succeeded by Stephen Hawking. Lighthill then became Provost of University College London, a post he held until 1989. James Lighthill House is named in his honour.

Nutford House

Nutford House in Marble Arch was built in 1916 and was acquired by the University of London in 1949, after which it was expanded to take in five terraced houses in Brown Street, known as the Annexe and one house in Seymour Place. Accommodation is provided for 199 men and women students in 157 single and 21 twin rooms. No smoking is permitted in the hall.

Nutford House has a total of 156 single rooms, and 21 shared rooms across the main hall, annexe and Seymour Place. The warden for many years was the sole surviving relative of Howard Carter (archaeologist), the discoverer of Tutankhamun's tomb and signed the death certificate (last seen on display at the 1992 British Museum's exhibit of Howard Carter's career before Tutankhamun).

The Hall has a TV room, a common room, a games room, a music room, a study room, a bicycle shed and a small private garden usually open from 9 a.m till 10:30 p.m. The Hall also has a two laundry rooms (one in the Main House, one in the Annexe) and a number of small tea kitchens.

Others

There is limited UCL accommodation available for married students and those with children at Bernard Johnson House, Hawkridge, Neil Sharp House and the University of London's Lilian Penson Hall.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 Sam Smiles (1998), Going modern and being British: art, architecture and design in Devon c. 1910-1960, London, UK: Intellect Books, ISBN 1-871516-95-1, retrieved 15 March 2011
  2. 1 2 3 "Ramsay Hall". University College London. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "Student Housing - Levitt Bernstein". Levitt Bernstein. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  4. "Camden focus on quality construction" (51). Site Lines. Winter 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  5. "Multi-Million Pound Investments In Academic Venues". Event Industry News. January 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  6. "Hours of Idleness". The Guardian. 13 September 2004. Retrieved 15 March 2011. Coldplay came together in Ramsay Hall, a dour student barracks, lodged primly among Fitzrovia's numerous knocking shops, with canteen food of legendary awfulness.
  7. "You might not believe it, but that gown is so rock'n'roll". Times Higher Education. 8 September 2006. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  8. Terrance Zepke (2002), The Encyclopedia of Cheap Travel: 1,000 Companies, Consolidators, Agencies, and Resources, London, UK: Six Star Publishing, ISBN 0-7414-0841-4, retrieved 15 March 2011
  9. Sandra Gustafson (1994), Cheap sleeps in London: the savvy traveler's guide to the best accommodations at the best prices, London, UK: Chronicle Books, ISBN 0-8118-2781-X, retrieved 15 March 2011
  10. "On a Budget; How to Hold Onto Pounds in London". Los Angeles Times. 30 April 2000. Retrieved 15 March 2011. ... such as the modern Ramsay Hall at 20 Maple St. .... This modern, 462-room complex is positioned ideally for the West End theater district, Oxford and Regent streets and the British Museum. There are no baths in the rooms, but the price is right: $36 to $39 per person, with breakfast
  11. "University of London, Ramsay Hall and Indian Y.M.C.A.". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  12. "James Lighthill House". University College London, UK. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
  13. "James Lighthill House, Finsbury, London". London University Rooms, UK. Retrieved March 21, 2011. External link in |publisher= (help)
  14. English Heritage (2008). Temple, Philip, ed. Northern Clerkenwell and Pentonville: Survey of London, Volume 47. Yale University Press. p. 368. ISBN 978-0-300-13937-2.
  15. "UCL, London, United Kingdom: Digs with a difference". World Architecture News. 26 June 2007. Retrieved March 21, 2011. External link in |publisher= (help)
  16. Smith, Alex (13 June 2007). "Levitt Bernstein’s student housing makes waves in Islington". Building.co.uk. Retrieved March 21, 2011. External link in |publisher= (help)
  17. "Accommodation". University College London. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
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