By Andy Thompson
Deputy Head, Architects and Building Branch
In 1949 Architects and Building Branch was established in the English Ministry of Education. The
Development Group, within the Branch, was one of the first truly multidisciplinary organisations charged
with research, building theory, collaboration and experiment. For 50 years the Branch has seen
governments come and go and the ministry itself renamed the Department of Education and Science,
Education and currently Education and Employment. As political imperatives have changed the Branch
has responded to the challenges. At the start of the 21st century “A&B Branch” is very different in size
and scale to the organisation founded halfway through the 20th century. But apart from the name the
underlying principle of A&B has remained the same; this is to bring together architects, educationalist
and policy administrators, to “lay down general principles, guidance and advice combined with empirical
investigation and experiment”(Saint)1. Through both centralist and de-centralist administrations A&B has
retained a role in national government helping to foster innovation in school design.  Full pdf report

Notes on Henry Rees ‘A University is Born’: The Story of the Foundation of The University of Warwick (1989), Birmingham, Church Enterprise Print.

 

Notes by CL

 

This little book is a personal account by Henry Rees who it seems fist put forward the idea of the university and was instrumental in getting it approved and set up. He summarises all the meetings, reports and decisions from the initial germ of an idea to the first students arriving. It is useful to cross reference to the archive material and also is useful for:

-          Indicating useful newspaper articles, particularly Coventry Telegraph and Coventry Standard

-          A who’s who of the initial key players, including on p 79-82 a summary of the first profs and their backgrounds

-          The relationships with the City of Coventry and other bodies at the time

 

Things of note in particular:

 

6: Coventry Standard article commenting that all depts would be research active, ‘In all these research would play an important part. With its help we should learn more about ourselves, our city and its region’.

 

8-9 funny picture of a horse in a field ‘We hailed him as our first student’ and description of the site, ‘ We stopped the cr and admired the view. A level plateau sloped down to a clear stream, Canley Brook, bordered by an attractive copse, Tocil Wood. I was reminded of the setting of the University of Exeter …’ (9)

 

21: City Council Brochure ‘Proposed University College’ 1958 –

 

“This scheme has been prepared with the object of stimulating the conception of a university in Coventry and of showing how a positive architectural approach may assist in creating the environment necessary for the pursuit of knowledge.

 

In designing this university our first aim was to create a unified group of buildings which would provide the most inspiring environment for both study and leisure, creating conditions where the departments of learning would be closely linked with e buildings in which the students lived and spent their leisure time

 

There is ref to a ‘tower of learning’ which would be ‘some 200 feet high’ – a landmark and with views. and the picture on p 222 is fascinating – looks more like Birmingham than  Warwick.

   

The brochure also says, “Our design attempts to establish the University as a self-contained community complete in every respect, a place where the pursuit of knowledge and the life of the community would be synonymous” (see p 23)

 

The tower of learning is to be ’21 storeys high’. Rees comments on the designs and plans that, ‘A pleasant touch was that the buildings were oriented to line up with the direction of the spire of Coventry Cathedral: an echo of the redevelopment of the City Centre, where the main axis of the shopping precinct does exactly the same thing’ (p 23)

 

26: Coventry Standard article comments on how university would be almost completely residential and scheme breaks with tradition being ‘new and exciting’. Describes not ‘aping’ other universities and functionality of the design.

 

60: fear of a divided site (iif Engineering stayed at Lanchester College). Mr Templeman also notes that, ‘There would be a great advantage in dispensing with the conventional organisation into faculties and departments because of the rigid form this frequently imposes upon undergraduate teaching’   

 

71 Butterworth:

‘Coventry has pioneered in ‘system building’ which is a quick method of erecting buildings, and this has attracted the interest of the University Grants Committee. One of the architects who ought to be considered seriously ... is Arthur Ling ..’ He was one of the initial architects – what’s the relationship between him and YRM?? 

Once appointed one of the first things Butterworth did as VC was to cisit the US ‘ in order to visit modern university development and schools of business maangement’ (Rees p 73).

 

May 1963 digging began

 

76 ‘Three months later the building was occupied. The University had moved in, in the shape of a temporary typist (21^st August 1963) ...’

 

First profs all incredibly YOUNG – 7 of them in their 30s.

 

89 Lord Rootes “In Coventry the University of Warwick will match the new Cathedral; in Warwickshire it will be as great as Shakespeare. It is perhaps the most forward-looking university in the country’  (interesting quote – says something about its ambitions, sense of self, cultural value).

 

City Architect, “I do not think that in a city like Coventr we would want to clamp down on the number of cares in the university’ – an several car parks, with  ‘a large one in the central area’ were planned. Hmm.

 

East Site originally known as ‘First Site’ as served as a ‘university in inature’ for about 450 students. (92) 

 

5^th October 1965 The Times – “A good deal of radical thinking has gone into the curriculum. Courses are planned so that students can delay the choice of their specialist subject as long as possible. All undergraduates will take a course in the first year designed to encourage critical thinking and to show them the limits and possibilities of their own discipline’ (cited on p 99)

  

P 100 VC Butterworth welcomed new UGs by saying:

 

‘This university as a duty to the world outside .... It seems to me that things strong extrovert society is exactly the right place to put a university which believes it ought to have positive connections with society outside.  

HES presentation

HES slides

improving20schools20article1.pdf

Ken Flint Interview·         Began working at Warwick in October 1976.·         First position was in environmental sciences and was based in the chemistry building. From 1985 onwards he was based in biological sciences on Gibbet Hill.Photo Identification

·         Picture 1: Identifies the yet completed library and science blocks, places the date of the picture at pre 1968, as these were completed by the time he arrived on campus and the chemistry degree began in 1968. Comments that the library tiles were already beginning to drop off.

·         Picture 2: Recognises typical ‘cladding’ of the building in the photo as being the Gibbet Hill Campus. Later Ken shows me the site of the photo in its modern carnation.

  ·         Between 1974 and 1980 the university began to grow and change rapidly. In this time social studies was built, it then calmed until around the mid 1980’s when development began again.  This cycle of building included the business school and extensions to existing buildings, including the Gibbet Hill wing which was built in 1984. Ken believes the university has building and development ‘spurts’. ·         Estimates that since 1976 there has only been one year when Warwick has not had some sort of major building works going on. ·         ‘Warwick has prided itself on being at the forefront of everything’ thus it has to move forward and modernise constantly. Even in the 1970’s Warwick had a reputation for being cutting edge and innovative.

·         The biggest change he has seen in teaching rooms is the change from ‘chalk boards, to white boards, to overheads and now to the use of powerpoint.’

·         In terms of how technology affects teaching, he feels staff have to change the way they teach to suit the equipment. However some subjects still need older equipment, he uses the example of teaching statistics on a chalk board, as you can easily erase and change things. Admits that ‘you could do that on PowerPoint, but I don’t want to learn.’ Although he does say that PowerPoint is great for other things and says it is expected that biology lecturers use PowerPoint.

·         A new development is students recording lectures and making podcasts.

·         Some staff do resent changes in technology as it means constantly having to adjust lectures and methods, which means less time on research comments

 

‘Every member of staff is hesitant to change the way they teach, partly because at Warwick, as you probably know, Warwick promotion ect are determined by research’

 

·         However believes staffs have to adjust to technology or it can be fatal for their careers.

·         Teaches different years differently. For first years it is important to lay ground work and get them ‘interested’ in the subject. For final years it is more important to have cutting edge material, thus the materials changes yearly for final years and rarely for the first years.

·         Laboratory rooms have changed dramatically and ‘look a lot different to when I first started’. Main difference is the presence of computers in the lab and the way all the equipment can be hooked up to laptops.

·         Smaller teaching includes workshops, tutorials and seminars.

·         Teaching of whole year groups has become more formal, as there larger intakes of students each year.  Since he started the number of students in a year group has grown from 50 – 240 students. Small group teaching has not changed, as it has always been groups of five and will remain that way. Belives groups of 5 are the best way to teach and would not increase size of tutorials past 5 students.

·         Prefers ‘students to lead the tutorial’ and for each student to take turns in leading the discussion. Sees his role as ‘facilitating the discussion’ rather than teaching it. Also uses this time for students to bring up any issues or problems they may be having with the course. 

·         Dedicates one seminar a term for students to choose what topic or research will be discussed.

·         Feels there is a big spilt between ‘town and gown’.  Thinks that the University has ‘done more damage to Leamington than good, because of the damage students’ cause’.  However sees students in Coventry as less of an issue, as Coventry has a history of students due to the polytechnic, whereas in Leamington it was a major change.

·         Although does mention some strength of the University, such as the arts and sports centre as good ways of attracting the community onto campus. Mentions local sport team coming to compete on campus and this makes good links.

·         Mentions the socialising after sports matches in the university bars mentions the ‘airport lounge’.  This resulted in many people not seeing the university as an elitist organisation, as perhaps they had previously assumed.

·         It has also created a lot of jobs for the local people, Ken knows several people who jobs in the university within the admin and estate departments.

·         Ken has personal links with many of the local colleges in the area and tries to spread the message of what Warwick University is all about.  Also occasionally has school students come in and take part in labs sessions.

·         Sees the development of learning grids ect as a result of students moving away from learning from books, to internet resources. Believes the library should be renamed the information centre, as there is no longer a need for a place that just has books.

·         When asked about the access and card only entrance to library he felt that ‘knowledge is universal, so the library should be universal and free of charge’.

·          Overall believes that the University ‘could do a hell of a lot more’ to forge good links with the community.

  

Drawing on the foundational theories of John Dewey and Kurt Lewin, we examine recent

developments in theory and research on experiential learning and explore how this work

can enhance experiential learning in higher education. We introduce the concept of

learning space as a framework for understanding the interface between student learning

styles and the institutional learning environment. We illustrate the use of the learning

space framework in three case studies of longitudinal institutional development. Finally,

we present principles for the enhancement of experiential learning in higher education

and suggest how experiential learning can be applied throughout the educational

environment by institutional development programs, including longitudinal outcome

assessment, curriculum development, student development, and faculty development.

The University of Warwick. (1991) Making a University. A Celebration of Warwick’s First 25 Years

Printed by William Caple & Co. Ltd. Leicester. Compiled by Michael Shattock (possible interviewee)  

MRC reference UWA/B/12

Useful for 1960s, 70s & 80s Warwick. A compilation of photographs from the first 25 years of Warwick

Hannah has photocopies of some of the photos and captions from the ‘Academic Work’ section. Captions are useful in relation to staff and their departments.

 

Cath's notes on the same book, aso available in the library.

Shattock notes

 

P 13

Ling’s ideas – architectural and ‘viewed from living and communal perspective’, Chinn’s were about education. Walter Chinn a Quaker and a socialist – admired Tawney and Keele Uni. experiment.  Warwick not designed to be for local people. Chinn’s ‘Memorandum on the Creation of a University’ to the Education Committtee on 17 Oct 1958. said, ‘a university is by its very nature non-local in character’ UWA PP 4/4

P 14 idea of university part of dev of city centre – alongside Belgrade, Herbert – bringing cultutal and intellectual life into Manufacturing city. C How does this relationship between the manufacturing and cultural play out in the architecture?

P 17 disc about the name. Bishop Bardsley  (Bish of Cov) proposed University of Warwick. Some opposition following meeting – Richardson suggested ‘University of Arden’, Letts : ‘university of Coventry’CRO 1/1

P 18 desire for universities to turn out ‘balanced men’ rather than those with narrow/ necessary technical know-how. Chinn – progressive, supported comprehensives schools, wanted to see university which was comprehensive and covered wider spectrum of levels than trad university model

P 20 here suggests despite Oxbridge orientation of the Board, no desire to have colleagiate system, but C Hugh G H interview suggests otherwise – maybe this came later from Butterworth?

The Board saw university growing, ‘not be seeking to impose upon it at birth an artificial and romantic image of newness but by choice of staff with ideas on the development of their subjects; and by giving this limited staff the opportunity to create a university and its community’ (1963 UWA Com APB 1/1).   

P 22 Uniqueness of Warwick that it was only new uni to be founded in a manufacturing centre, ‘and perhaps for this reason the community – at the political, industrial and educational levels – was more involved, and invested more intellectual and, ultimately, financial capital in the university idea than in any of the other New Universities. ‘

Context in Coventry of conflicts between local and national interests and ideas about the university and what it would be. ‘In a very real sense the University was brought into existence by the generous support of the local authorities and a leading group of industrialists. It could not have happened without the initial leadership of Coventry but it was the very broadly based support of the community, as a whole, as evidenced in the success of the Foundation Appeal, which realised a national policy for founding new universities in the creation of what has become a national institution’ – List of contributors to Foundation Appeal on p 124.

P 25 ‘More than any of the New Universities, Warwick’s physical aspect illustrates the subordination of the discipline of planning to academic and social demands. The University has had three Development  Plans and has burst out of each of them ... ’

1960s YRM

1970s – filling in middles of Uni – Shepheard and Epstein and Renton Howard Wood

 1980s – massive building programme

See pp 26 -27 for the different plans.

We already have many of the pics – I am only highlighting those we don’t, which look good –

Pic 6 p 29 ‘The Long Walk between the Library and the Rootes Social Building’ – highlights the distance between buildings in the 1960s which students complained about. We were missing  p[ic like this when we did the Sheffield talk.

 

Pic 6 p 31, is 3B series no one by Bernard Schottlander 1968 one of first art works/ sculpture (red thing in rootes).

P 43 the new intake in 1965 – can we locate:

-          Helen Hunt (grad Phil and Politics; now Blackmore, special needs teacher)

-          Michal Jones ( French and European Lit , now Gen Adminsitrator at Wylfa Nuclear Power station on Angelsea

-          Pamela Boulton-Jones  (History,  now radiograopher)

-          Martin Foulser   (left at end of first year)

P 44 pic 3 – Hannah a picture here of the ‘founding professors’

 

P 3 – Nita Benn (nee Bowles) signing building agreement on behalf of union in 1974

P 59 ‘The fundamental task of a University is academic work: teaching, learning and research. Jack Butterworth use to say in his address to new students that the distinguishing feature of University teaching, particularly at Warwick where research flourished, was that it should take students “to the edge of knowledge in their discipline”.’ C interesting spatial metaphor. And important link research and teaching. What did Butterworth mean? Cath has p/copy of pages 60 -74 labelled, as much more explicitly about teaching and learning (spaces).  Perhaps area where v little change – as Shattock notes, ‘ 

Also a section with pictures relating to community teaching encompasses lecturing, laboratory classes, small group work, seminars, tutorials and projects. It may vary according to discipline and year; it may include off-campus reading weekends, day visits to places which relate to a  course, or a term in Venice; above all it is informal, critical and intellectually testing’ (p 59). Though ‘academic study remains an individual, not to say solitary, endeavour … ’ – has this changed with onset of social learning? Heroic image of lone scholar?    

 

Pp 95-110 by Bob Burgess – also a possible interviewee.

He notes parallel between ‘not only physical territory that was ripe for development but also academic territory’.  P 95.

They inherited so little, and had so much to create. – C

Notes that Asa Briggs, commenting on Sussex, said they were ‘redrawing the map of learning’.

‘ Jack Butterworth … enunciated his views to staff and students when he claimed that his fundamental philosophy was to establish a university based on research, teaching and service to the community. His position involved giving the founding fathers and their staff the opportunity to create the academic landscape: an opportunity that persuaded several people to come to Warwick …’ P 95

Professor Phillips-Griffiths (Griff) – founding prof of Maths – ‘When I discovered it was all wide open I agreed to come (to Warwick)’. (cited p 95 – from interview with Bob Burgess in 1990)

Butterworth, ‘Teaching and research in a university are complimentary, for in the best university experience ther is an intimiate connection between rsearch and teaching. Our students are taught by teachers who have regard to research, that is to say by techers who are acquainted with the frontiers of their subject and teach with the attitude of a research worker,  96 ( VC’s report to court 1969-1970 p 6)

 

-          Bit more to go on this, but I have p/copy ….

CL

 

Hannah’s report of the ‘Making Space: Our Teaching, Learning and Making Spaces in the 21st Century’ Conference on 7 July 2009 University of the Arts London and Chelsea College of Art and Design 

Although space was considered in relation to space use in art and design in higher education institutions, much of what was said was relevant to a number of disciplines and it was not solely focused on this area. Themes included the integration of state of the art technology with traditional spaces, the challenges in effectively using space to support student learning and how existing spaces and facilities can be used to improve the student experience.

 In conversation – Sunand Prasad of Penoyre & Prasad Architects and RIBA President and Professor Chris Wainwright Head of College for Chelsea, Camberwell and Wimbledon Colleges UAL  

Prasad

Shouldn’t be designing for specific functions as these can soon become redundant but there is no such thing as endless flexibility (cannot future proof!).

The city (complex, interactive and extraordinary) is the teacher. Example of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital placing patients outside in what was essentially a public thoroughfare. This demonstrates the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to designing educational spaces. All spaces can be appropriate technologically but it is what brings out the best in people that should be sought.  

Over 100 years ago primary education was configuring learning around the child. Post war this spread into secondary and to some extent further education however it has not quite reached higher education yet. Some of the ideas going around at conferences such as this were aired over 100 years ago in relation to primary schools.

The history of spaces and places is rich, space is layered with meaning and we ought to think of buildings as a garden- developing over time (needs some attention?)

Architects sell spaces and co-creation is fundamental, bringing together different knowledge.

Wainwright Spoke of spaces and their flexibility in terms of functionality, identity and appropriation (which ought to be central).

Place and social learning- can they be both? Notions are permeable as we learn from the city and its cultures. There is no firm threshold.

Students appropriate space for their own requirements and this often differs from the original intentions of those designing the space and it is this unexpected use which often adds to the collective memory of a space.

Identity: whose building is it? The vision of the architect V the conflicting tensions of those to use the space.

Making Space – Tom Alexander, Swanke Hayde Connell Architects 

Focuses on education/schools and is involved with research. Swanke Hayde Connell (Jennie Lee building, Open University and the Centre for Collaborative Construction Research, Loughborough University) is a part of the RIBA HEDQF travelling exhibition, which we will visit in London in September.

Mentioned www.academicworkspace.com 

An observation: Shared spaces views inwards and personal spaces look outwards.

Areas for further investigation/thought, which arose from questions: 

Waldorf education based upon the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner who wrote his first book on education, The Education of the Child, in 1907.

Today further and higher education needs to attract students whereas previously there was a captive market. 

Space is a resource and not territory (power/politics).

Students as Practitioners - Authentic Learning Experiences at UALAlison Shreeve, Director, Creative Learning in Practice Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, UAL 

An authentic learning experience is one where by learning is personally meaningful and relevant to the student and socially relevant to the field. Relevance to the field could be via ‘event based learning’ and the mirroring of the actual discipline (in practice/ the wider world) in the learning space.

Moving the teacher away from the ‘front’ of the class room, as the Reinvention Centre does, is following the art school model?  

Discussed Vygotsky’s Activity Theory, which evolved in the 1920s in which the ‘tools’ include the spaces used for learning.

Space and relations to that space which may create tensions:

• People
• Roles
• Rules
• The object of activity

Linking back to Prasad, Planned and specific space V flexibility.

Ben Evans, UAL Governor and Director, London Design Festival and University of the Arts governor talked on Non-Spaces and Found Spaces.  

Non-spaces are those that are not carefully thought out but are used by many regardless.

New ‘found spaces’ are running out. Perhaps the Reinvention Centre is in a ‘found space’.

Supports relationships and collaborations- invite people in to use the facilities you have to offer.  

Creating Effective Strategies for Using Space- Sian Kilner, Kilner Planning

The focus was on the strategic and practical aspects of using and managing space and creating effective strategies for using space. There are different computer packages used to do this incorporating tables and graphs etc.

The main issues being:

How do we decide what we really need with the changing patterns of demand?

Can we afford it or afford not to have it?

Can we model different ways of meeting future needs?

Do space management incentives and penalties make a difference?

The estates emphasise that it is difficult to meet what academics want and that it is the deciding factor is the budget.  Locating Social Learning Spaces

Rebecca Kiddle, The Reinvention Centre CETL, Oxford Brookes University

This session was the most practical of the day and involved a group activity of redesigning the layout of Wheatley Campus at Oxford Brookes. Planning in relation to social learning- about ad hoc passing trade.

 People spoken to and useful information/ links received:  

Jos Boys, University of Brighton http://www.spacesforlearning.blogspot.com/

Tom Hamilton: Inqbate The Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Creativity, University of Sussex. t.hamilton@sussex.ac.uk   www.inqbate.co.uk

If I remember rightly Tom said that he would like to visit the Reinvention Centre whilst teaching is going on and Cath mentioned that it would be interesting to visit Iqbate.  

Hannah Hames  h.hames@newman.ac.uk

Early years/primary:  Reggio Emilia, Italy The Reggio Approach

UK branch- Sightlines Initiative: www.sightlines-initiative.com

Second Life (virtual space) used by universities including Coventry University for lectures.

· Wife of David Medd, yet her father was perhaps her biggest influence. As a medical inspector and representative on the Board of Education, he firmly believed in the EDUCATION OF THE WHOLE CHILD. This could be facilitated through teaching itself and also the environment in which it is carried out.

 

·  Influenced by Swedish design based on:

• ·          Simplicity
• ·          Straightforwardness
• ·          User centrality – Medd’s educational background gave her access to the best teachers’ classrooms meaning she could systematically observe the needs of both students and tutors. Is this the case today? Or are new learning spaces too obsessed with new technology and attracting prospective students than they are with day to day functionality?

  ·          E.g Burleigh Infants – Cheshunt. Consisted of 3 square prefab classrooms separated by play courts. Thus, clearly the austerity of post-war Britain and lack of resources influenced the built environment and – where schools are concerned- the pedagogy of the time.

·  Another contributor to Medd’s work was the Ministry of Education’s Architects and Building Branch. Aimed to meet student and teacher needs via subtle, modulated spaces to create a child centred environment enabling child centred education.

·  Research leads from this information:

• ·          Find photos/visit Burleigh Infants
• ·          Contact Ministry of Education – Architects and Buildings Branch.
• ·         Research pedagogic theory that informed Medd’s designs

Laura Evans