New 450 bed undergraduate & postgraduate halls of residence - 12,500 sqm.

The design proposal for the site at Paradise Street and London Road was developed to expand the University’s campus towards its Technology Park, providing accommodation and social facilities further reinforcing this link. The site is both constrained in its context, and irregular in form. It is a “gateway” site as it marks this interface between the city centre and the main approach from the motorway network to the south. 

The language of the design begins with the traditional academic structure of courtyards and quadrangles, evolving this to also respect Coventry’s history of “lost” courtyards such as those of the Whitefriars Monastery (on the opposite side of London Road), and east of Holy Trinity. This idealised model for the scheme is tempered by the realities of the site, its irregular form and the necessity for the scheme to be able to be delivered in two phases. 

This has resulted in a series of blocks forming open-ended courtyards, facing northeast towards London Road, linked by a circulation axis cutting across the site connecting the spaces by means of a cloistered walkway at ground floor level.

This language of open courtyards avoids any issues of the development forming a solid “wall” along London Road, as individual blocks are perpendicular to the main road, also helping with acoustic issues. Individual courtyards look north and west towards the city’s skyline, or south over landscaped space and out towards the Technology Park.

Social spaces are included at ground level, with common hubs for both Under-graduate and Post-graduate residents, along with common spaces like a laundry, post room and seminar rooms etc

Individual wings contain student flats, generally comprising eight or ten en-suite rooms clustered around a communal kitchen / dining  / social area. Larger units form “studio” apartments with integrated kitchenettes and living spaces.

The scheme is designed to re-establish the City’s townscape in an un-hospitable area; reinforcing the language of Streets and blocks; acting as a new gateway to the City Centre along London Road.