Plans include covering the courtyard of college’s category A-listed main building with a glass roof
Wilkinson Eyre’s plans for a £142m extension of Madras College at the University of St Andrews in Scotland have been given the go ahead.
Fife council voted to back a recommendation from planning officers to approve the scheme last week despite concerns over plans to cover the courtyard of the college’s category A-listed main building with a glass roof.
The scheme will also include a large extension to the south of the main building, a 250-seat lecture theatre to the west of the site, a new entrance pavilion and a general restoration of the existing main building.
The University said the glazed enclosure in the courtyard of the main building, which dates to the 1830s, was “essential for year-round usability, energy performance, and conservation benefits”, according to Fife council.
Historic Environment Scotland, the equivalent body to Historic England north of the border, initially objected to the application on the grounds of the glass roof and proposed works close to the ruins of the 16th century Blackfriars Chapel.
However, the body withdrew its objection after Wilkinson Eyre submitted amendments to the scheme including moving the entrance pavilion further back and redesigning the glass roof as a lightweight structure which could be easily removed in future.
Planning officers conceded that the enclosure would “introduce some change to the listed building’s character” but argued this would be balanced by the creation of a year-round usable space and the “overall benefits of the redevelopment”.
Officers said the wider proposals would deliver “significantly enhanced” facilities and concluded that the proposed extension, while large, would not significantly impact the surrounding conservation area.
Once completed, ‘New College’, as it is currently known, will be home to the new St Andrews Business School and the university’s School of International Relations.
The scheme will be largely funded by St Andrews alumni and other private donors following a university fundraising campaign.
Wilkinson Eyre board director Stafford Critchlow said: “It’s been a rewarding three-year process of careful dialogue to ensure the design properly stitches New College into the historic fabric of central St Andrews.
“With the restored listed building at its heart, reinvigorated by a newly covered courtyard designed for year-round use in the Fife climate, the scheme delivers outstanding facilities for students, postgraduates and academics.
“The result is a contemporary academic environment with a strong and distinctive St Andrews character, enriched by a new landscape setting and public access.”
The project team includes project manager Gleeds, planning consultant Montagu Evans, cost consultant Currie & Brown, multidisciplinary engineer Buro Happold and landscape architect Gross Max.
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