-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 1
/
Copy pathoriginal_dev_plan.html
407 lines (365 loc) · 17.6 KB
/
original_dev_plan.html
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
<html>
<head>
<title>University of York - A Brief History</title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" link="#555555" vlink="#000000" alink="#000000">
<a href="index.html"><img src="folklore-icon.gif" alt="Folklore" align="middle" width="31" height="33"></a>
<h1>University of York - A Brief History</h1>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>It is a strange thing that the great City of York, with its ancient
tradition of learning and culture, should have been so long without a
university.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Now that defect is to be remedied - in a setting of
extraordinary beauty, and in a manner which is such as to excite the
most phlegmatic.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p align=right><i>Extract from foreward to the Development Plan, by the Chairman of the
University Promotion Committee, The Archbishop of York.</i></p>
<hr>
<h2><a name="sources">Sources</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><i>The University of York Development Plan 1962-72</i>, published 1962.
Written by Andrew Darbyshire.
<li><i>The Architecture of the University of York</i>, recording of a talk by
Andrew Darbyshire, 1977.
<li>The University of York <i>Development Review</i>, and appendix,
published 1985.
<li><i><a href="start.html">Start of a New University</a></i>, transcript of
a talk by Lord James of Rusholme, 1966.
<li><i>The First 25 Years</i>, University publication.
</ul>
<h2><a name="time">Timeline</a></h2>
<dl>
<dt><strong>1617</strong>
<dd>The people of York petition James I for a university.
<dt><strong>1647</strong>
<dd>York Corporation petitions parliament for a university.
<dt><strong>1831</strong>
<dd>Another unsuccessful attempt made to found a university.
<dt><strong>1947</strong>
<dd>Local citizens apply to the University Grants Committee, but no need
is seen for a new University. The Civic Trust is invited to set up a
committee to investigate further, which forms an Academic Trust, raises
money from local charities and businesses, and purchases the site at
Heslington together with Heslington Hall. The Trust also founded
the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research,
and the Insitiute of Advanced Architectural Studies.
<dt><strong>1958</strong>
<dd>Governmental policy changes, with rising numbers of students seeking
further education and the need for more graduate, it was proposed to
expand existing universities and create 7 new ones, the first being
Sussex.
<dt><strong>1960</strong>
<dd>The Academic Trust reports back to the University Grants
Committee, providing evidence of the progress made. The Committee gives
approval for universities at York and East Anglia.
<dd>At York, a Promotion Committee and Academic Planning board are formed
to start work on the university.
<dt><strong>1961</strong>
<dd>A Vice-Chancellor is appointed - Lord James of Rusholme.
<dt><strong>1962</strong>
<dd>Development plan published in May. Phase one of plan, the conversion of
Heslington Hall, is started.
<dt><strong>1963</strong>
<dd>First 200 students admitted.
<dd>Phase one completed with the conversion of Kings Manor.
<dt><strong>1964</strong>
<dd>Phase two of development starts, building a science block and two
colleges.
<dt><strong>1965</strong>
<dd>Phase 2 complete, buildings opened - Derwent and Langwith Colleges, and
the first Science Block.
<dt><strong>1966</strong>
<dd>The library is completed in June.
<dt><strong>1967</strong>
<dd>Phase 3 expected to finish.
<dt><strong>1985</strong>
<dd>Development Review is published.
<dt><strong>1990</strong>
<dd>Dame Janet Baker installed as Chancellor.
<dt><strong>1994</strong>
<dd>30th Anniversary Celebrations on 1-3 July.
</dl>
<h2><a name="development">Development of the University</a></h2>
<p>At the start of the 1960's, the government announced plans for a huge
increase in the number of university places available. New universities
were to be built, many on green-field sites, which were to provide the best
possible environment for teaching and research. York was one of these
new universities.</p>
<p>Officers of the University, architects and engineers, and the Promotion
committee were all chosen, and were given the task of planning a university
from scratch, to be built as quickly as possible. They were:</p>
<table width="100%" border=0>
<tr><td valign=top align=right>
Chancellor Designate
</td><td valign=top align=left>
The Earl of Harewood
</td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top align=right>
University Promotion Committee
</td><td valign=top align=left>
The Archbishop of York <i>(Chairman)</i><br>
Alderman R S Butterfield <i>(Vice Chairman)</i><br>
The Lord Mayor of York<br>
The Dean of York<br>
T C Benfield<br>
Alderman W T Burke<br>
Sir Geoffrey Crowther<br>
Sir John Dunnington-Jefferson<br>
Alderman W M Hyman<br>
Dr J B Morrell<br>
Lady Ogilvie<br>
H Oldman<br>
Alderman R S Oloman<br>
Lloyd Owen<br>
B P Rowntree<br>
A S Rymer<br>
Alderman R Scruton<br>
W Wallace<br>
Alderman Mrs I G Wightman<br>
B Littlefair <i>(Hon. Treasurer)</i><br>
</td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top align=right>
Academic Planning Board
</td><td valign=top align=left>
The Right Hon Lord Robbins <i>(Chairman)</i><br>
Professor W Mansfield Cooper<br>
Sir Francis Hill<br>
Professor Sir William Hodge<br>
Lady Ogilvie<br>
H Oldman<br>
Professor J G Wilson
</td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top align=right>
Vice-Chancellor
</td><td valign=top align=left>
Lord James of Rusholme
</td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top align=right>
Registrar
</td><td valign=top align=left>
John West-Taylor
</td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top align=right>
Architects
Project Architect
Architects
</td><td valign=top align=left>
Robert Matthew, Johnson-Marshall and Partners<br>
Andrew Darbyshire<br>
Ronald Brown<br>
Roger Clarke
</td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top align=right>
Consulting Engineers - Civil<br>
- Mechanical<br>
Landscape Architect<br>
Quantity Surveyor
</td><td valign=top align=left>
Scott & Wilson, Kirkpatrick and Partners<br>
L J Fowler<br>
H F Clark<br>
Franklin and Andrews
</td></tr>
</table>
<p>The site chosen was towards the south-east of the city, between
Walmgate stray and the farming village of Heslington (pop. 800). A total
of 180 acres
was purchased, including the derelict Heslington Hall with its grounds and
lake, and some land from the Retreat hospital. The site was entirely
outside the city boundary.</p>
<p>Much of the site was fairly boggy, with ground water over large
areas. Basements to buildings were avoided for this reason. The proposed
solution to the drainage problem was a substantial number of drainage
pipes, feeding into a lake to be excavated in the centre of the site.
Material from the excavation would be used to build up the surrounding areas
slightly.</p>
<p>The existing road, from Heslington village past Bleachfield House (now
demolished) and the Retreat hospital, was replaced by a new road, running
to the north of the old one and joining Hull Road in a different place. The
road was designed to be cut into the bankside to reduce it's obtrusiveness,
and curved to reduce traffic speeds. As built, the cutting was restricted
by cost cuts, and the road was straightened at the insistence of the local
road safety officer.</p>
<p>It was realised that the university could not all be built at one time,
and students would be admitted whilst the building was still going on. The
plans allowed for this by starting at the Heslington Hall end of the
site and progressively developing towards the town end, maintaining a division
between the occupied parts of the site and those still under construction.
As part of this plan, and to enable work to be readily broken down into
units which could be accomplished when the finances permitted, the total
10-year development plan was broken down into four phases, each taking 2-3
years to complete.</p>
<dl>
<dt>Phase 1
<dd>The conversion of Heslington Hall and King's Manor into teaching
accomodation. This would allow the admission of non-science
undergraduates. Civil engineering: drainage to lake, and access roads.
This work was carried out by conservation and conversion architect
Bernard Feilden.
<dt>Phase 2
<dd>Building the first two colleges, and the first science block,
to allow the admission of undergraduates in physics, biology and
chemistry, and allow students to live on campus. The central
boiler house also came under this phase, as did general site work
such as building bridges. Central facilities of library and central
assembly hall, and 6 non-science departmental buildings.
<dt>Phase 3
<dd>Another three colleges to be built, and the second science block.
Another 9 non-science teaching blocks. Sports centre, concert
hall and theatre to be constructed.
<dt>Phase 4
<dd>The final three colleges to be built, bringing the total to eight,
and another 6 non-science departments. Also maybe the third science
block, if not built at the end of Phase 3. New colleges to be somewhat
larger than the old ones. Existing 5 colleges to
have extra accomodation built to bring their size to that of
VI-VII, to be based around a departmental
building surplus to requirements.
</dl>
<p>An important part of the Plan was the creation of a park-like
site for the campus. The main element of this is obviously the lake,
but much effort also went in to landscaping and planting around it.
The flora on campus was planned by Maurice Lee.</p>
<p>The comparatively large amount of building to be done in a short time
lead the development committee to the use of prefabricated building
materials. This aspect is covered <a href="buildings.html#concrete">elsewhere.</a></p>
<p>The development plan covers the academic brief in some detail. From the
outset it was established that there would have to be a broad division in
the provision of science and non-science courses, since the science courses
needed to have labs built which would take some time. The original intention
was to finish with a ratio of 40:60 science:non-science students.</p>
<p>The university was to make provision for undergraduate and postgraduate
study. It was felt important that courses were not too narrow in their
content, to avoid extreme specialisation. It was also proposed from the
outset not to teach law, teaching, or any technological subjects. </p>
<p>The college structure was one of the central ideas behind the campus
design. All members of the University, staff and students, were to be
members of a college, which would facilitate the mixing of students and
staff of different subjects. The colleges would provide residential
accomodation,
communal meals, leisure facilities, and teaching accomodation. The
development plan envisaged single-sex colleges ``at least as far as
undergraduates are concerned'', however this idea was soon reversed by
the academic members of the committee. The size of the colleges was
to be 300 members initially, rising to 450 members at the most, this
being roughly the number of people who
could get to know one another during three years at university. </p>
<p>The plan included a large number of staff living on campus, part of
the desire to form a strong identity for the University. ``There should be
no rigid demarcation between the places where the members of the
University work and the places where they live and have their homes,
and there must be provision for residence within the University complex
for the maximum possible number of teachers, students and staff of all
kinds.''
<p>Student numbers were designed to grow to about 3000 by the end of the
development period in 1972. 50% of undergraduates were to be housed
on campus. As well as the colleges, many smaller units of accomodation
were allowed for in the plan. There was to be accomodation for
950 undergraduates in flats, and 460 family houses for postgraduates and
staff. All of these were to be built on campus or around Heslington.
In the event, mixing large numbers of staff and students
on campus was not felt to be a good idea by either side, and the idea
was dropped.</p>
<p>Timetabling of lectures was to be carried out centrally to maximise
use of facilities. It was also intended to deliberately move students
around between lectures, to ``multiply the opportunities for random
contact and mixing between the different work and social groups within
the whole University''.</p>
<p>With everything on one campus, and movement between buildings
encouraged by the design and timetabling, much thought was given to
communications on the site. With road traffic confined to the edge of the
site, a network of pathways was planned to join all buildings, for
pedestrians, cycles in some cases, and trollies to move supplies from
the road access to various buildings. Many of these walkways
were to be built with canopies, to provide weather protection. The canopies
were also supposed to carry all services around the site - power, water,
communications etc. In the event, the engineers involved could not agree on
how to do it, and only phone and computer lines are supported in this way.</p>
<p>It was decided for reasons of economy and reduction of pollution and
noise, that hot water and heating would be supplied from a central
boiler house, to be built away from residential blocks. The boilers
supplied high pressure hot water to the buildings around the campus, where
Calorifier stations would extract the energy for room heating and hot water.
(In more recent years, one of the original boilers has been replaced by a
combined heat and power unit, with a gas-powered generator producing
electricity and hot water.)</p>
<p>The campus was designed to be capable of easy expansion, both during the
initial development phases and in the long-term future. This applied both
to the campus as a whole, and to individual buildings on it. For instance,
the first science block to be built had to accomodate Physics, Chemistry
and Biology, with Physics and Biology moving out in later years when their
own buildings became available. The science buildings had a large area
left around them for two reasons:</p>
<dl compact>
<dt>11.3
<dd><strong>Science Department</strong>
<dt>(d)
<dd>Space for external growth and change is provided in the Development
Plan adjacent to each of these units in the form of clear space of at least
twice the unit area surrounded by a tree screen so that the scientists can
carry on their unpredictable pursuits without nuisance to the rest of
the University community, but equally without being shut away from it in
undesirable isolation.
</dl>
<h2><a name="plan">Plan of Campus</a></h2>
<img src="original_dev_plan.gif" alt="[Map of Campus]" width="553" height="539">
<p>The above illustration shows how the
campus was expected to look by 1970. The eight colleges are shown
as white circles, and occupy the positions expected. The large
red circle marked `L' is the library, in its original position above
the road. The original idea was for underground car parking, but the map shows
large semi-circular car park next to it. Three white circles marked
`S1' - `S3' are the science departments, in the order of construction -
these are Chemistry, Physics and Biology today. There are also four
small red circles, marked `H' (Central Hall), `S' (Sports Centre),
`T' (Theatre) and `C' (Concert Hall). The theatre has a large car park,
and was intended to be next to the lake.
The Concert Hall seems well away
from anything else, sitting on the hill under the Siwards Howe water
tower. The boiler house is also marked, (`B' behind `S1').
The large number of small squares shown on the map were intended
to be staff housing. The covered walkways are shown in yellow, whilst the
outer red circle is the distance walkable in 10 minutes.</p>
<p>The above notes have been produced with the aid of the recorded
lecture `The Architecture of the University of York' given by
Andrew Darbyshire in 1977.</p>
<p>This item is reproduced from the 1985 Development Plan Review.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The University of York was established to contribute 3,000 student
places to national growth between 1962 and 1972. The original
Development Plan set out the guiding principles for physical development
alongside a specific academic brief. The Plan was written by
Sir Andrew Derbyshire and Sir Stirrat Johnson-Marshall (development
architects) with Lord James and John West-Taylor for the University.</p>
<p>A collegiate structure was set up to fulfill both a social and an
academic role. The campus was made relatively traffic-free and
organised in such a way that no destination was more than 10 minutes'
walk away. Crucially, the development plan allowed for future growth
and for new departments.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Related pages:</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<img src="/icons/greendot.gif" alt="*">
<a href="buildings.html">Campus buildings</a><br>
<img src="/icons/greendot.gif" alt="*">
<a href="heshall.html">Heslington Hall</a><br>
<img src="/icons/greendot.gif" alt="*">
<a href="colleges.html">History of the Colleges</a><br>
<img src="/icons/greendot.gif" alt="*">
<a href="start.html"><i>The Start of a New University</i> by Lord James</a>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<img src="/icons/greendot.gif" alt="*">
<a href="index.html">Folklore Index Page</a>
<img src="/icons/greendot.gif" alt="*">
<a href="f-disclaim.html">Disclaimer</a>
<hr>
<address>
$Header: /u/cvs/www/folklore/original_dev_plan.html,v 1.9 1996/12/05 19:25:46 cvs Exp $<br>
Email: <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>,
WWW: <a href="http://kipper.york.ac.uk/">http://kipper.york.ac.uk/</a>
</address>
</body>
</html>