Royal Holloway, University of London

The Emily Wilding Davison Building is a striking design yet one that sits harmoniously in a site steeped in history, flanked on one side by the Grade I listed Gothic revival building and surrounded by one of the most beautiful natural campus landscapes of any university in the world.

Proteus HR TECU Bronze was selected by Associated Architects because the ochres, browns, and reds resulting from the material’s natural weathering were considered to harmonise with the colour of the brick and clay roof tiles of the Grade I structure beyond.

The size and shape of the TECU Bronze cladding panels were heavily featured during the design stage. A decision was made to go with elongated portrait-format panels with horizontal joints that aligned with projecting feature ‘tree-house’ meeting pods.

The sensitive design response resulted from a number of constraints imposed by the site’s topological aspects, one principal factor being the need to limit the new building’s height so that it remained clearly subservient to the Gothic Revival Grade I Listed Founders Building.

In response, the Emily Wilding Building doesn’t exceed three storeys above ground, whilst the use of the vertical module TECU Bronze cladding panels avoids the façade appearing squat. A basement floor was excavated into the sloping site, maximising the useable space.