Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge
Cambridge, United Kingdom · 1995
Photo · Photo by John Edward Linden
A precedent for high-tech, curved glass diagrid facades that maximize transparency and create a glowing civic presence at night, ideal for academic and institutional envelope studies.
- What we like about this project
- The dramatic diagonal slice at the end of the cylindrical volume, creating a sharp triangular profile.
Materials
- glass
- steel
- aluminum
Visual identifiers
- diagrid-facade
- curved-glass-envelope
- glowing-interior
- triangulated-steel-frame
- cylindrical-volume
Style tags
- high-tech
- modernist
- structural-expressionism
Visual tags
- high-tech
- transparency
- diagrid
- curved-glass
- academic-building
- night-photography
- Geometry
- A cylindrical, curved glass envelope that shears diagonally at its end face, supported by a prominent triangular diagrid structure.
- Facade system
- Triangulated steel diagrid glazed curtain wall
- Structural guess
- Steel diagrid shell acting as both facade support and primary lateral structure
- Spatial scale
- Large-scale institutional building, approximately four to five stories tall, with a sweeping monumental facade.
- Lighting
- Dusk lighting with a deep blue sky contrasting against the warm, bright fluorescent and spotlighting from the building's interior.
- Atmosphere
- A dramatic, luminous structure that stands out as a beacon of modern technology against a quiet twilight landscape.
- Environmental context
- Set on a dark grass lawn with mature trees visible in the background under a twilight sky.
- Spatial experience
- The building acts as a glowing lantern at dusk, revealing multi-level interior floor plates and structural framing through a highly transparent skin.
- Composition rhythm
- A continuous diagonal grid pattern that wraps the curved surface, terminated by a sharp, angled end wall.
- Style reading
- High-Tech British Modernism
- Program
- University academic building
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- glass, steel, aluminum
- Visual identifiers
- diagrid-facade, curved-glass-envelope, glowing-interior, triangulated-steel-frame, cylindrical-volume
- Style tags
- high-tech, modernist, structural-expressionism
- Visual tags
- high-tech, transparency, diagrid, curved-glass, academic-building, night-photography
- Geometry
- A cylindrical, curved glass envelope that shears diagonally at its end face, supported by a prominent triangular diagrid structure.
- Facade system
- Triangulated steel diagrid glazed curtain wall
- Structural guess
- Steel diagrid shell acting as both facade support and primary lateral structure
- Spatial scale
- Large-scale institutional building, approximately four to five stories tall, with a sweeping monumental facade.
- Lighting
- Dusk lighting with a deep blue sky contrasting against the warm, bright fluorescent and spotlighting from the building's interior.
- Atmosphere
- A dramatic, luminous structure that stands out as a beacon of modern technology against a quiet twilight landscape.
- Environmental context
- Set on a dark grass lawn with mature trees visible in the background under a twilight sky.
- Spatial experience
- The building acts as a glowing lantern at dusk, revealing multi-level interior floor plates and structural framing through a highly transparent skin.
- Composition rhythm
- A continuous diagonal grid pattern that wraps the curved surface, terminated by a sharp, angled end wall.
- Style reading
- High-Tech British Modernism
- Program
- University academic building
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture