Aberdeen University’s new £8million flagship student building, The Hub, opened towards the end of 2006, revolutionising catering and social facilities for students across the historic King’s College campus.
Proposals for the major renovation of the University’s existing Central Refectory, which dated back to the 1970s, were unveiled in 2005, with established Scottish firm Covell Matthews Architects (CMA) appointed as the lead consultant, architects, interior designers, space planners and planning supervisors for the project.
CMA’s Project Architect on The Hub development was Fiona Adam, who has considerable bar and restaurant design experience, a real necessity on The Hub project, as the design of the building had to include bar and dining facilities for up to 600 people.
The student services at Aberdeen University had previously been housed within a number of older properties dotted around the Old Aberdeen Campus, posing access problems and meaning students had to deal with fragmented facilities. Our brief was to design a one stop shop for the students and staff, providing catering, social spaces, and resource and support facilities all within one accessible building in the heart of the University campus. This was to be achieved by refurbishing the existing 1970s, three-storey, Central Refectory. This new facility had to provide a licensed internet cafe bar, a variety of shops, a sandwich bar, meeting rooms and student support offices on the ground floor, with a 450 seat food court, student activities spaces and a global hub for international students on the first floor.
Stephanie Millar, Deputy Director of Campus Services, at Aberdeen University says all of the University’s near 14,000 students are delighted with the finished building and are already enjoying the benefits of the new facility. Stephanie worked closely with the interior design team in finalising the selection of colourful furniture to match the Hub logo. CMA sourced fun and funky furniture from Holland, Italy, Sweden and the UK including organic soft seating and curved internet desks.
Design Team
Architect
Covell Matthews Architects
Interior Designers
Covell Matthews Architects
Structural Engineer
Cameron & Ross
Services Engineer
Wallace Whittle
QS
Murray Montgomery Partnership
Project Manager
Covell Matthews Architects
