CONSERVATION
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CONSERVATORS
ON THE CAM In Cambridge, ‘context’ can mean different things. Peter Sparks, architect, and Fellow of Girton College, examines two local renovation projects: The Cripps Building at St John’s College Cambridge, by R H Partnership, and Trinity’s New Court, by 5th Studio WORDS PETER C J SPARKS
The River Court, with repaired concrete and bronze windows, and new leadwork to the river range © Matthew Smith
‘Who decides? Who pays? Who benefits?’ These were the words of my studio tutor Michael Brawne (Lecturer at Cambridge University, 1964-1978)‚ as I sat at my drawing board, a graduate student lost in a project to ‘double the size of Cambridge’. The St John’s Cripps building had recently been completed to great acclaim and was often cited by Michael in studio criticism. In the case of Cripps his response would be simple: the College decided; one of its alumni paid; and the Fellows and students benefited. We were a small group that year and reacted badly to our mega-task. The following year we rebelled and wrote a joint paper (‘The St
Matthew’s Project’ 1971 and ‘Sparks, Thomson and Wills, Some Notes on Housing’, 1972) extolling the benefits of upgrading redundant existing stock. So far, so prescient. To be shown around Powell and Moya’s St John’s Cripps Building, refurbished last year by R H Partnership, and Wilkins’ Trinity New Court, where the refurbishment by 5th Studio was recently completed, has been an astonishing experience for an academic architect who last practised in the late 1970s. The question of ‘who decides?’ seems nowadays to be defined by years of detailed technical and historical research, with the overarching issues of climate change and the
‘Who Who decides?’ decides? seems to be defined by years of detailed technical and historical research environment always uppermost in the decisionmaking process. Of ‘who pays?’ we are not told but, even for wealthy institutions, this generally means some serious fundraising. The question of ‘who benefits?’ is one to which I shall return.
CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE | 7