the pillars. An entire summer was spent in painstaking work by a team of student restorationists, led by Jane Rutherfoord, who, in the 1990s, was responsible for removing the flock wallpaper with which a previous generation had covered the honours boards. Through specialist sampling techniques and research, they were able to tell the story from the beginning of the Barry Buildings. The original terracotta was probably too pink for Barry’s taste and did not match the limestone, while paint that was applied to recolour the terracotta over the years included red, pink, cream and brown. The restoration team reinterpreted and revealed Barry’s original intention: a beautiful rich terracotta hue, delicately decorated with floral plaster shapes picked out in Victorian green, offsetting the limestone columns and restoring scale and perspective. Planned Works Music Following the conversion in 2013 of the former swimming pool tank room to a fully equipped acoustic percussion rehearsal space, the next stage will be to build a new formal entrance, joining the two halves of the building. We will shortly launch a competition for young architects to identify the best practice with which to develop a design to transform the presentation of Music and represent in physical form the true status of the department. Landscape Developments Plans are in hand to remove vehicles from the North and South Gravels, return these areas to recreational space for the boys and develop almost all the hard standing along the spine of the College to dedicated pedestrian use. This will recover the grandeur of the setting of the Barry Buildings and remove the risks associated with mixing vehicles and pedestrians in a confined area. A scheme is being developed to move the cars to a redundant plot of land adjacent to the railway line, and will include a proposal to replace the ageing and decaying trees of Chestnuts Walk. The Laboratory
but complete, with the last of 146 per-cast panels that make up the exterior cladding to be installed soon. The 3.6m x 2.4m panels, each unique in design and individually cast in Belgium, combine to create a finished pattern wrapping round the building. Sculptor Peter Randall-Page, working with Grimshaw Architects and using the Lindenmeyer algorithm, has created a flowing pattern of organic shapes in a format known as the Dragon’s Tail, formed on the south and east by cool, buff-coloured concrete panels, and warm rich tones of terracotta tiles in different shades on the north and west sides of the building, playing off the colours and textures in the Barry Buildings. The interior takes shape at the same time, with 18 laboratories, three prep rooms, staff room, offices and the cathedral-like James Caird Hall. Fit-out, commissioning and testing will continue to the end of March. We will then empty the temporary classrooms and what remains of the Science Block in time for the start of Summer Term. Thereafter, while half the temporary classrooms are removed, McLaren, our contractors, will establish a new compound between the Shackleton Building and the Phase 1 building and start to demolish the old Science Block. There is a great deal to do but very exciting times for the whole community.
And so to the Laboratory, Phase 1 of which is nearing its completion date of 27 March 2015. The building shell is all
The Laboratory under construction in January 2015
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