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Each is in competition to attract customers, and each tries to do so by improving the appeal of its brand. The main draw is still the university's academic record, but prospectuses and websites also generally rely on a picture of carefree undergraduates whiling away a sunny day with a coffee, a large number of friends and maybe even a book or two. Obviously, this looks even better if it can take place next to a stunning piece of architecture …

The glass roof at Middlesex University's Hendon campus has turned a weed-ridden quadrangle into a showcase for the university

Middlesex University's faculties of business and computer science hoped to add a little architectural firepower to their sales drive by covering a windswept and weed-ridden quadrangle at their Hendon campus in north-west London with a dramatic glass roof. "The intention was to create an iconic building. The quadrangle has to be a showcase for the university," says Paul Beaty-Pownall, a director at BPR Architects, the practice that had previously designed the campus' learning resource centre.

The purpose of the £13m scheme was to enable the space to be fully usable as the campus entrance and performance area, and to improve the existing 1930s building. This meant adding the roof, and extending the floors of the campus building under it by means of two broad platforms (see cross-section overleaf).

As the campus is a locally listed building, the architect had to comply with requirements laid down by Barnet council. Beaty-Pownall says: "The principle behind the design was to try to minimise the disruption to the existing building. And we had to provide an open, free-standing space without creating an additional load on it." Furthermore the services and drainage requirements of the atrium had to be independent of the original campus.

One of the most challenging aspects of the project was to cover such a large area while leaving it uncluttered by structural supports. The responsible for solving this problem was Dewhurst Macfarlane and Partners. Paul Byrne, partner and group leader for the project, says the real difficulty was to cover the quadrangle at a high level without putting any columns in the middle. "We wanted to keep it as nice and clean as possible, so we had to push tree columns in the corners," he says. The result is that the only contact between the original building and its atrium is at the level of the newly installed platforms.

The design also fulfilled the local authority's requirement that the conversion be invisible from outside the campus, as the new roof is below the ridge of the 1930s building.

Beaty-Pownall says: "What we thought first as a ridiculous expectation from the conservation office turned out to be for the best. It gives a real sense of place to the site."

The 160 m2 roof is formed from glass units slotted into a steel frame that is held up by the tree columns. Some 336 glass panels, provided by cladding contractor Seele, were used on the sloped roof. The project started on site in September 2004 and was completed at the beginning of the following academic year. It took Seele three months to install the elements of the roof. Banks says that, before the installation, a lot of discussion between the architect and the subcontractor took place, which explains the smooth running of the actual construction.

Now that it's finished, Middlesex University has the high-quality social space that it wanted. This is enhanced by an underfloor heating and cooling system, and a passive ventilation system in which air is sucked into the building through linear floor grilles and expelled by way of vents in the roof's vertical glazing. As much for aesthetic as practical reasons, four asymmetrical inverted pyramids were placed on top of the tree columns, where they act as drainage collection points. Lights have been placed underneath them to create a grand effect at night, when the atrium will host social events.

The atrium project is part of a larger £40m regeneration plan for the campus. The success of the work so far is indicated by the copper coins thrown into the atrium's central fountain as if it were Rome's Trevi Square.

Project team

client Middlesex University
architect BPR Architects
structural engineer Dewhurst Macfarlane and Partners
contractor Fitzpatrick
roofing and cladding subcontractor Seele UK