Berrick Saul Building

An outstanding connection with nature while achieving wonderful internal study spaces.

The building is moulded around the landscape, transforming a tree at the heart of the site from a constraint into an opportunity. This postgraduate research centre links study space, teaching space and social space by a central street on a lakeside campus.

Soft forms and an intimate relationship with landscape create a calming, contemplative mood which is appropriate to its research function and which users clearly enjoy.

Brief

  • new multi-disciplinary research centre
  • integrate new building into parkland campus surrounded by blocky 1960s buildings

Results

  • a soft, organic and sinuous building acting as a counterpoint to its neighbours
  • narrow plan and good daylighting minimise energy use

Facts

Location: University of York
Client: University of York
Construction cost: £7.5m
completed: 2009

Integrated services

architecture, acoustics

Links to images