Students Aim To Be Kings of 'The Hill'

A striking design for a unique building being planned for the heart of London forms the centrepiece of the Degree Show exhibit from three students at the University of Dundee this week.

Fifth-year students Lesley McIntyre and Michael Williams, together with third-year Sarah Brown, have all worked on the latest project from acclaimed architect Kathryn Findlay, who is a Professor of Architecture and the Environment at the University.

`The Hill’ is a new public building focusing on sensory experiences which is planned for a site at Potters Field, next door to Tower Bridge. Created for a client, theatre expert Simon Elliot, the plans for the building include a zero gravity room, a mutating maze and slow food restaurant.

Professor Findlay’s new practice, Fieldwork, has a unique position within the University’s School of Architecture. When the practice was commissioned to work on the design for The Hill, Professor Findlay didn’t hesitate to involve her students, who have responded to the challenge in brilliant fashion.

“This has been a fantastic experience for us as students,” said Lesley McIntyre (24), from Portstewart in Northern Ireland. “This is not just a piece of theory we are working on, it is a real project which may well come to fruition, which adds an extra edge to it.”

Michael Williams (23), from Ballymoney in Northern Ireland, added, “The plans we have worked on are for a very complex, pioneering building which offers all sorts of new challenges for us as architects. It has been great for us to be able to bring our ideas to the table for a major project right in the heart of London.”

Professor Findlay said the students were benefitting from the unique positioning of the Fieldwork practice within the University.

“Our set-up here is very unusual in that we have a full working architect’s practice inside the University’s School of Architecture,” said Professor Findlay.

“The work we do as a practice throws up great opportunities for research and teaching, so it makes sense to involve the students in what are real, live projects.”

Sarah Brown (26) from Dundee has visited London and New York on scholarship programmes developing specialist skills in `smart geometry’ through her work on the project, which she has carried out on a year-out from her course.

Professor Findlay said `The Hill’ could be used as a park on the outside and an arts space on the inside. “We’re trying to create free-floating spaces, a very permeable relationship between inside and out,” she said.

Plans for The Hill are on display at the University of Dundee School of Architecture Degree Show 2007 this week.

Degree Show 2007 takes place at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design and the University of Dundee School of Architecture from May 19th to 26th. Opening times are 9.30 am to 8.30 pm Monday to Friday, 9.30 am to 4.30 pm at the weekend (closes 2 pm Saturday May 26th). Entrance is free and all are welcome to attend. www.dundee.ac.uk/pressoffice/degreeshow07