The Green Heart, University of Birmingham

The University of Birmingham's Green Heart is one of the UKs largest public realm projects, offering a new educational environment at the heart of the historic campus. Conceived by Churchman Thornhill Finch, it was a collaboration between the University, Churchman and Contractor Willmott Dixon. The craftsmanship is of the highest standard, the level of detail and the refinement of fabrication sets the Green Heart apart from its competitors. It took 4 years to transform the central area into an exemplar of planning in higher education.
The original campus, consisting of the iconic clocktower and the semi-circular range, was established in the early 1900s. The University established a formal axis leading to Lodge Buildings and ironwork gates, these structures now Listed. In the post WWII period the University expanded up the axis and in 1958, the Library was built disrupting the intended views. The formality of the pre war campus was overlaid by a more disparate and organic plan. The 60's saw the construction of the brutalist Muirhead Tower, which still dominates the space. Slightly outside the Green Heart but defining the other end of the axis was the Listed Metallurgy and Materials building.
In the early 2000s the University commissioned a new masterplan which involved relocating the library to an adjacent site. The University took the decision to leave the vacated land free of buildings and to create a new open space in its place. A design competition saw Churchman appointed with a design which remained unchanged through to completion.
Planned around the axis, The Green Heart offers a series of sub enclosures which are balanced while not entirely symmetrical, offering both the grand gesture and a series of more intimate enclosures.
The guiding design principle behind the scheme was that of serendipitous encounter, i.e. to create a common ground or a trading floor for ideas where chance meetings could occur and new ideas hatched. This took the form of spaces and features that encouraged those passing through the Green Heart to linger and to dwell.
The site generated significant challenges in terms of the level changes. Previously none of the campus had been planned with inclusive access in mind and so the scheme had to find ways for all people to navigate their way between departments. There were some structures which had to be retained because they were key parts of the University's infrastructure. Churchman's proposal uses these as stepping stones, by joining the roofs together they created a multilevel circulation system of bridges and ramps allowing all users to move between any two points on campus unaided.
Student comfort and active use were the key aims, the scheme being served by a generous quantity of seating and tables, all wifi enabled such that the outdoor areas became valuable study space. It was a vehicle for new ideas and technologies, energy generating paving harnesses the power of student's feet to power laptops and phones. Coupled with a high quality lighting scheme the students have perpetual enjoyment of the space.