4 minute read
Building partnerships
Introducing Stories and Feilden Fowles, Mansfield’s consultants in its major redevelopment programme.
Stories – Mansfield’s partner
Mansfield has always prided itself on having big ambitions, but its latest project – to renew the College facilities for generations to come – will be transformational. The first step in realising this aspiration was to choose a development partner.
Phyllis Agbo Senior Development Manager at Stories
Stories was appointed by the College to investigate how investment in the existing buildings and spaces could improve its amenities. As Mansfield’s development partner, we will provide expertise in managing the brief, design, funding, planning and development process. We will also help identify other organisations to work alongside, including the now-appointed architect, Feilden Fowles.
Stories has already fostered a close collaborative relationship with Mansfield. We have worked on similar projects with partners including The Crown Estate, the University of Oxford and the NHS, and bring experience from major ventures such as London’s King’s Cross regeneration.
The process happens in stages, called the RIBA Plan of Works. Each stage acts as a gateway, for Mansfield’s Governing Body to review progress and ensure the best outcomes for the College.
Where have we got to?
Our approach can be summarised in four key questions:
Does it work?
Do we love it?
Can we afford it?
Can we deliver it?
To answer these, we have taken time getting to know Mansfield: exploring the beautiful grounds and historic buildings; researching and surveying, above and below ground. We have spent many hours speaking with Fellows, students, staff and alumni. We have even consulted institutional funders to investigate the College’s options. This is a once-in-a-lifetime assessment of Mansfield’s estate and we want to be thorough.
Mansfield’s site has developed in phases over time, resulting in a collection of buildings that both we and the College believe could be much more efficient and accessible. An overall strategy would seek to improve the living, teaching and operational efficiency of Mansfield, benefiting its students, academics, staff and visitors.
Together, we are calling this plan Mansfield’s Estate Development Strategy. It will involve a reconfiguration and refurbishment of some existing buildings and spaces, and potentially the replacement of some structures with better designed, more efficient, environmentally sensitive buildings. A crucial initial step was finding the right architect.
Feilden Fowles – Mansfield’s architect
In 2023, following engagement with Mansfield’s Estate Development Sub-Committee, Stories, alongside architect-commissioning expert Municipal, ran a closed architectural competition. After a tough evaluation process, Feilden Fowles was selected by Governing Body.
Edmund Fowles Director at Feilden Fowles
Feilden Fowles is excited about the opportunity to reimagine the College estate on a scale not seen since Basil Champneys’ magnificent original buildings were constructed. The project aims to bring long-term social, financial and environmental sustainability to Mansfield, fulfilling its target to become carbon neutral by 2030.
Feilden Fowles was established in 2009 by Fergus Feilden and Edmund Fowles, who met while studying Architecture at Cambridge University. The practice has delivered a range of buildings across the UK and received numerous awards, including being shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize for
The Weston, a new gallery at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. It has recently completed the new Dining Hall for Homerton College, Cambridge.
Working closely alongside Stories and the wider team, we have enjoyed getting to know Mansfield and spending time with students, staff and Fellows to develop a detailed understanding of the College’s physical characteristics, patterns of use, operations, constraints and features as well as more social and nuanced qualities. The illustration (right) captures some of the communal activities observed.
We understand that a college serves many roles: as a place of work and learning, as well as a social space and home for students at a pivotal moment in their lives. These functions overlap, creating changing environments serving sometimes more public, formal purposes and at other times private and domestic needs.
Together with Conservation Architect Marcus Beale, we have also enjoyed learning about Mansfield’s rich history, exploring Basil Champneys’ fine buildings. Fortunately, Champneys was a keen writer and we can understand much about his design intent, to inform future additions to the College, including a few maxims:
‘Make art your aim from the first; Keep clear of fixed ideas; Take your time; and Quality before quantity.’
Basil Champneys, ‘Some Principles and Methods of Design’ in The British Architect (March 1891)
The project is still in its early stages, but this is an exciting time for Mansfield. There will be more engagement with the College community, current students and alumni, before the Estate Development Strategy is finalised later in 2024 and design work begins.
