Rick Mather’s “...ability to fit 05.1.1 BUILT PEDAGOGY Our current and previous projects in sensitive contexts, including seven buildings at the University of Oxford, Stowe more into a site than seemed Rick Mather Architects are one of the leading Gardens and the World Heritage Site in Greenwich, have possible is probably as strong practices in the higher-education and cultural grown from an understanding of how to place buildings a reason for his success as his sectors, delivering world-class buildings and carefully on a site: forming positive urban spaces, framing other more subtle design skills.” setting a new benchmark for high quality design in views, and orientating internal rooms, circulation and atria universities. Our projects have consistently been the that can make sense of the context around. Eleanor Young - RIBA Journal November 2008 defining components in masterplans and campus developments that raise the profile of the institutions EXHIBITION & DISPLAY The Ashmolean Museum extension with innovative “fat walls” that carry all of the services in the building Flexible exhibition space in the atrium of the they serve and transform university identities. Current gallery projects include the recently completed Liverpool Art and Design Academy Towner gallery in Eastbourne (UK), the £61 million We are one of the few architecture practices in the expansion and renovation of the Ashmolean Museum in world to have built two state-of-the-art architecture Oxford and the $100 million extension to the Virginia schools in the past five years and would welcome the Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond (USA). opportunity of establishing an innovative landmark building for the University of Melbourne. Major previous gallery projects have included the renovation and extension of the Dulwich Picture Gallery, the Wallace We have considerable experience in cultural and Collection and the National Maritime Museum in London. masterplanning projects that brings a unique understanding of the potential for a building to not simply be aware of, As specialists in museum and gallery environments we but strengthen its context. This allows striking landmark understand high quality environmental specification, flexible buildings that generously extend their reach beyond the space design and optimal lighting conditions required to edge of the pavement and transform a corner, a street and display and interpret a variety of work. This expertise has an entire quarter of a city through the way they frame and been used within the recent Art and Design schools to address their surroundings. Through this urban design create an environment that can support both the formal and insight, universities can establish an identity for their wider informal presentation of work throughout the building. campus; using individual buildings to improve the spaces in-between. Our recent projects in Oxford are a reflection of TECHNICAL INTEGRATION our ability to design within these complex historic settings Our projects look to consistently innovate in structural and still deliver uncompromisingly modern, world-class and environmental performance. We have designed highly student facilities. sustainable projects, pioneering geothermal systems and low-energy galleries. URBAN DESIGN We have considerable expertise in masterplanning and estate ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION strategies for higher education. Our ongoing work as the Our projects like to push the limits of structural and masterplanner for the South Bank Cultural Centre in London material performance. We developed the first all-glass has been widely acclaimed: structure in the world, and regularly incorporate large areas of glazings that are structurally challenging. Working with “Rick Mather’s masterplan is the an internationally renowned expert in concrete we have Lincoln School of Architecture positioned adjacent to the Lincoln Cathedral masterstroke at the root of the developed high performance mixtures that give exceptionally smooth exposed finishes in the Liverpool Design Academy transformation” “(Rick) Mather’s practice has quietly produced some and high performance spans in the Towner Gallery. Stirling Prize Nomination 2008 of the best new university buildings of recent years, ” In many of our academic masterplans we have consistently BACKGROUND TO THE PRACTICE from Oxford to Liverpool For full details on the approach, history of the practice and found as much as double the space the universities thought Hugh Pearman - RIBA Journal November 2008 they had on the overall site. Our studies often prove that previous 30 years of projects please see the website - www. existing campuses have much more development capacity rickmather.com than previously thought leading to huge cost savings in not having to acquire new sites. We believe that the spaces formed between buildings are as important as those internally. ‘DRAWING IN THE CONTEXT’ The Art and Design Academy in Liverpool and Architecture School in Lincoln make strong spatial references to their context, sensitively acknowledging the adjacent Modern and Medieval cathedrals and framing views from within the atrium, in its response to the urban form. 1 Melbourne School of Architecture, Building, and Planning Rick Mather Architects - www.rickmather.com The recently completed Towner Gallery in Eastbourne (UK) Light boxes provide controlled artificial light to the galleries in the Liverpool John Moores University Art and Design Academy with Fredrick Gibberd’s Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King new Towner gallery in Eastbourne, UK 05.1.2 THE ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT VARIETY We have wide-ranging experience in academic environments: from studio, workshop and lecture based teaching to quiet library environments for personal work and research. We understand the variety of environmental conditions and programming of spaces that may be required for different modes of research and learning. LIBRARIES & RESEARCH Personal research requires the right degree of intimacy, Keble College, Oxford. The new buildings along with Butterfield’s grade I listed Range building frame a new quad for Liverpool Art and Design Academy. A variety of spaces for interaction between students and faculty students and faculty providing a variety of study areas that will suit individual preferences for research and reading. Environmental controls need to be acutely sensitive of changes in the “A dazzling contribution is made here, a fearless, imaginative occupancy and external climate in order to maintain the piece of work - which is just what an architecture school optimum ambient lighting conditions. should be if it is to fire students' creativity.” Rick Mather Architects have developed a number of high Stephen Gardiner - The Times 24 November 2003 - Lincoln School of Architecture quality research and library environments over the past ten years: ISMA (University of Reading), Keble College Oxford, and the Royal Horticultural Society Library in London. Lincoln School of Architecture. Atrium space with study tables adjacent Currently we are designing the extension to Queens College Library in Oxford and recently were one of four finalists for On the University of Melbourne campus, we would work with the $1 billion remodelling of New York Public Library. the client team to look at the wide spread impact of a new building on the campus, addressing its relationship with FLEXIBILITY other key buildings as well as the way its form will address Many academic departments must accommodate rapid the Union Lawn and other open spaces surrounding the site. fluctuations in numbers both within a day and an academic year. This requires flexible programming of spaces that DESIGNING IN A HISTORIC CONTEXT enable a building to remain pleasantly active at all times Rick Mather Architects has extensive experience working with environmental controls that can stabilise the demands in close context with protected historic buildings. The “Anyone on heating / cooling. Ashmolean Museum extension in Oxford links to the historic designing for Cockrell Building. Many of our numerous Oxford project At the Design Academy in Liverpool, classrooms, seminar buildings address adjacent historic landmarks including higher education and lecture spaces were planned efficiently to allow for Keble College, The Queen’s College, Corpus Christi College, can learn much multiple patterns and the maximum variety of uses. At and Mansfield College as well as the campuses of Liverpool, from him” Corpus Christi College (Oxford) and James Allen’s Girls’ Lincoln, and Stowe. Our work at the National Maritime School (London) we are designing robust multi- purpose Museum and the Wallace Collection in London exploit Hugh Pearman Liverpool John Moores University Masterplan. The position of the Art and Design RIBA Journal Academy along with the future phases of building creat open spaces that address spaces that can support a variety of teaching and the potential of the unused courtyards of these historic November 2008 the existing landmarks and a more active relationship between buildings. The atrium entertainment functions. This allows exhibitions, lectures, buildings. allows views through the building toward the Cathedral Stowe School, Buckinghamshire (UK). RMA’s recently completed girls dormitory frames views and guides paths to help organize the mix of buildings on the historic campus and conferences to take place with the potential for separate public access parallel to daily academic activity. Teaching Early discussions would include options to retain on