Director Guy Lake explains the composition of the scheme:
'Each college is defined by a 5-6 storey linear volume that steps up the site in response to the steep topography. The volumes are connected by low-rise transverse elements that frame and maintain solar access to the communal courtyards.'
Individual colleges are designed to have their own identity while collectively reading as part of Kensington Colleges as a whole. Building façades reinforce this through a consistency of materials combined with subtle modulations of colour and expression.
The courtyards are framed by facetted walls of glazed brickwork which present a playful expression of colour, texture, light and shade. In contrast, and in response to the mid-century brickwork of the surrounding buildings, the rectilinear external facades use a blend of three shades of face brick as a contemporary interpretation of the original clinker brick.
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