Patchwork 2 - Newton Building

In this essay we are going to be looking into the history, architectural style and context of the Newton building in Nottingham. The building itself is the heart of Nottingham Trent University, with thousands of students passing through it daily. The Newton building was constructed almost 80 years after its Revival Gothic styled neighbouring building Arkwright.

The Newton building was designed by Thomas Cecil Howitt in 1952, a famous Nottingham architect of the mid-20^th century, with construction beginning four years later in 1956. After two years of construction, the building was formally opened by HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent in June 1958. (NTU, 2013) The Newton building is one of the tallest buildings in Nottingham at 45.7M; it dominates the skyline and can be seen from all directions (Emporis, 2013). In 1998, the building finally became Grade II listed (English Heritage, 2013). The building was untouched until 2010 when it underwent a £70million refurbishment project which resulted in the creation of a unique landmark in Nottingham (bdOnline, 2011). Since the redevelopment, Newton has gone on to win the RIBA award in 2011, and become one of the best city campus’ in the country (RIBA, 2013).

Before its redevelopment, the Newton building was purely of an Art Deco style. At the time of construction (1958), Nottingham had already seen an Art Deco revolution, with buildings such as the YMCA hostel (built 1937,  also designed by Thomas Cecil Howitt) and also the General Store building on Lister Gate (No. 22, 24 and 26) (English Heritage, 2013). Therefore because of this the Newton building was tailored to the previous aesthetics of the city. The building itself contains many of the characteristics of an Art Deco style building, this includes the flat roofs, features in sets of threes (i.e. the windows) and also the use of building ‘eyebrows’ which was a structural element added to keep the interior cool.  (Sharon Koskoff, 2013).

Since the multi-million pound redevelopment of Newton, the whole dynamic of this iconic, towering building has changed. The once pure Art Deco building has now emerged from construction as a fusion of Art Deco and a combination of modern architecture. (ClareNNC, 2011) The monolithic tower of Newton still clutches its Art Deco exterior; however the combination of both brutalism and structural expressionism has impressively transformed Newton’s main entrance and interior, bringing about a resurgence of life. The style of brutalism can be seen through the use of raw concrete on the exterior and interior such as upper floor support columns and exterior cladding (Saylor, 2013) whereas the use of structural expressionism is voiced in the design of the roof, with glulam beams spanning the roof space supporting the glass roof, providing masses of natural light into the main atrium (can be argued the use of natural light is something of sustainable architecture).

The Newton building itself is one which grasps two ages of architecture, art deco and the modern brutalism and structural expressionism, integrating them into a very distinctive combination. Both the interior and exterior style of Newton building makes it an extraordinary landmark within Nottingham.

Bibliography

bdOnline, 2011. Hopkins’ Restoration of Nottingham Trent University. bdOnline. Available at http://www.bdonline.co.uk/hopkins%E2%80%99-restoration-at-nottingham-trent-university/5010922.article [Accessed 20th November 2013]

ClareNNC, 2011. The History of the Nottingham Conference Centre. Nottingham Conference Centre. Available at http://nottinghamconferencecentre.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/the-history-of-nottingham-conference-centre/ [Accessed 20^th November 2011]

Emporis, 2013. Newton Building, Nottingham Trent University. EMPORIS GMBH. Available at http://www.emporis.com/building/newton-building-nottingham-trent-university-nottingham-united-kingdom [Accessed 20th November 2013]

English Heritage, 2013. British Listed Buildings. Crown. Available at http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-469229-newton-building-at-nottingham-trent-univ [Accessed 20th November 2013]

English Heritage, 2013. British Listed Buildings. Crown. Available at http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-457439-22-24-and-26-lister-gate- [Accessed 20th November 2013]

NTU, 2013. About NTU– History. Nottingham Trent University. Available at http://www.ntu.ac.uk/about_ntu/facilities/newton_and_arkwright/history_of_the_buildings/index.html  [Accessed 20^th November 2013]

RIBA, 2013. Newton and Arkwright Buildings. Architecture.com. Available at http://www.architecture.com/Awards/RIBAAwards/Winners2011/EastMidlands/NewtonandArkwrightBuilding/NewtonandArkwrightBuildingsNottinghamTrentUniversitystreetview.aspx#.UpOV6sQvUhM [Accessed 20th November 2013]

Saylor, 2013. Brutalist Architecture. Saylor. Available at  http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Brutalist-architecture.pdf [Accessed 20^th November 2011]

Sharon Koskoff, 2013. Art Deco Elements. Art Deco Society of Palm Beaches. Available at http://www.artdecopb.org/whatis2.html [Accessed 20^th November 2013]