Architect
St Andrews
St Andrews was the second project for Alumno, and it was quite a journey really. I remember being introduced to the site for the first time, seeing a nursery which was part of a self-build project by the owners, and quite a large, under-loved car park. I don’t know if you can love car parks. It was quite bleak as well, next to the sports complex at East Shore, with a looming embankment – which had seen better days – crowned by a city of caravans.
It immediately struck me, when we were on site, the relationship not only to the coastline but the view back to the old harbour. Also, looking north, you can see the lovely skyline of St Andrews, where the University can be easily identified, as well as the cathedral. So there were lots, and lots, of good pointers that one could relate any development to. That was the starting point, identifying views, vistas and relationships – whether it be in section or in the distance perspective.
So we started looking at the site from various viewpoints; one of which was along the shoreline. I took pictures of the ripples in the sand which I found quite interesting in terms of pattern. They were not only changing heights, but in plan they kind of moved, and snaked – shifting in the planes. That be- came part of the inspiration for the setting out of the buildings themselves. First we orientated the buildings towards the sea, with them stepping up from the shoreline back toward the housing estate to the rear. Secondly, we
took the blocks and then divided them – we had three linear blocks parallel to one another, but then we divided and shifted the blocks in plan, which broke- up the mass, but also enabled us to identify a place to have the circulation.
Each block contained, in plan, one full cluster either side of the staircase or the circulation space. At the front block, toward the sands themselves, we referenced some of the older parts of the Fife coast where you have the fishing villages, and you have these open staircases, and you go up and access the clusters from the stairs.
The other two blocks we made more enclosed, because they were taller anyway and contained lifts, but we decided to make them transparent. When you are looking from the furthest away block there is some kind of visual connection through the blocks themselves, toward the sea.
We catalogued a lot of the roof forms within St Andrews, which tended to be quite traditional pitched roofs, but of varying degrees of pitch. Rather than
Scotland St Andrews
having bland gables we took the opportunity to have dual aspect windows into the common spaces – with these spaces having the best aspect not only towards the sea, but also towards St Andrews itself.
The materials used within St Andrews and their colours, whether it be the stone or the bricks, tended to be either a lighter sandstone or greyer stone. The pitch roofs themselves tend to be dark slate. We wanted to use contemporary materials but referencing these older materials from within St Andrews.
One of the viewpoints which people tend to forget about is the caravan park up on top of the embankment. There is a good view from there over toward St Andrews and we wanted not to intrude upon that. We wanted to nestle in with the landscape. So we looked at introducing the green roofs that you get on the buildings, which helps to soften the impact of the development itself.
We obviously had to create a nice car park; well as nice as possible! We were told by the University Estates Department that they’d had a complaint from one of the students in the past regarding the size of parking spaces. The complaint being that where this particular student was staying, on the official St Andrews University campus, the spaces weren’t big enough to take her horsebox. So we made a bit of effort to make sure that some of the car parking spaces can actually accommodate a small horsebox.
The landscaping element of it was very important. We didn’t want the buildings to be a completely gated community but to have some sort of visual connection as you move toward the sea, in the public realm, to have glimpses into the courtyards. Closely working with the landscape architects to develop, as we saw it, some form of amphitheatre which addressed the old harbour itself. Also it gave back, to the people who live, work and study in St Andrews, a space that they hadn’t had access to previously.
David Campbell was very keen to introduce an artist into this, and we spoke to the council about the coastal trail. There was a plan already being implemented to encourage art to be part of the trail, and so this became an ideal opportunity to add something by involving Jacob Polley, the poet.
A poem was specifically commissioned by Alumno, inspired by the history of photography within St Andrews. The poem – about the light of St Andrews appears with his words engraved in stone, on a stepped, sculpture-like land- scape; a permanent installation.
Throughout the process it was very much another example of good collaborative effort, in this case between Alumno, the landscape architect and the poet.
One of the components of the scheme was to incorporate a nursery. There had been a nursery before on the site, and there had been employment on the site. So there was an opportunity to create a contemporary space, and we worked quite closely with the relevant body in Scotland.
It was a nursery for children whose parents worked, in the University or in other industries, within St Andrews. That gave it a nice feeling because you are integrating young kids into a building which houses undergraduate and postgraduate students. So there’s quite a nice progression of age groups.
It is quite a wonderful place for a child to be able to go to nursery, and it’s secure as well. We wanted to introduce as much glazing as possible into the nursery as the most important aspect was toward the sea itself, and being able to see the sky. We were able to create a space for them to play outdoors, but also a semi-covered space with a canopy, green roof, over it.
We’ve effectively built student accommodation and a nursery for young chil- dren together in the same complex, and the interesting thing is they are both places of learning. Everyone within the buildings are learning, whether it is a kid or whether it is a teenager, or a postgraduate, or mature student – they all have that learning attribute.
The flats themselves are quite rational in a sense, they tend to have either a westerly or an easterly aspect. When you open the door the first thing you see is the window in front of you, and there is that connection between the window and entry into the room. They are all ensuite of course, and there are some studios.
The common rooms really are the jewel in the crown in the sense that we were able to create quite grand windows which is, again, relating back to some of the grander aspects of some of the older buildings within St Andrews. Having done a lot of loft apartments in the past, some of the more interesting spaces are usually in the roof spaces of older buildings with sloping roofs, and being able to create dormer windows. So we looked at creating a slightly more contemporary dormer, which wasn’t just a window set in the roof, but actually canted down to the floor as well.
It all feels very linked to the landscape and the views from the communal spaces. I would say that the roofs are very sympathetic to the surrounding
seascape, landscape, and even the townscape in the distance. The zinc- based material is akin to the traditional lead even though it’s much more up- to-date, and safer, better material. I would say it gives a successful nod to the historic aspect of St Andrews, and the colours of the landscape as well.
We were taking reference as well, because zinc has been used in some of the more contemporary buildings within St Andrews; it’s not as if it’s alien.
Materials tend to mature over time and gain some form of character, especially when they are exposed to the coastal elements. With Glasgow, for ex- ample, we considered very much the material we were using which developed a successful patina in keeping with the surrounding tenements. We’ve taken this into consideration with the materials for St Andrews and that they will weather well.
We were really enthused by the coastal path because, not only does it link other villages along the coast, it is a direct route right into the centre of St Andrews. Quite an inspiring route for a student to take in the morning. Safe, car- free, pleasant and quiet, with so many aspects along the viewpoints. When I first came to London one of the first places I worked was on Richmond Green. I used to walk along the river every morning and you experience the different qualities of light; you become more connected to the place.
By the sea you are very aware of that light – and seasons, tides, all of that. Different times of year there are different qualities to the environment, and that went into the landscaping, and how that can be perceived at different times of the year.
The general public walking along the coastal path will see your building in the distance, the landscaping, and the public art part of it – something for everyone – that continues and enhances the coastal path. Some people might be walking for a few hours along that path, so it gives them a place of arrival and rest
Scotland St Andrews
Scotland St Andrews
Customer Services Advisor
The students are generally very good here and try to be as accommodating with us as we are with them. We have little running conversations throughout the week, so it’s lovely. We’ve got quite a good range of people, ages, disciplines, nationalities and all that. It’s very diverse which makes for an interesting mix and they all seem to mesh together so well.
My role is multiple. First and foremost I’m here to obviously make sure people have the best experience they can while living at East Shore, and try to facilitate whatever helps in their day to day life, whether that be taking in their parcels, or getting stuff posted off. Plus emailing them, and some social media, on things that might be of interest. If they have any issues they come to me and I look into how that can be sorted for them as quickly as possible. If anyone has a big problem we try to liaise with whoever might be able to help. I’m here to support Catherine, the property manager, so I take on board as many of the day to day tasks as possible. She takes the upper decisions, but we work well as a team, so at the end of the day the focus is all on the students. I also keep the property looking nice. You’re almost a bit of a Girl Friday in this job but that’s fine with me.
When East Shore was built, they tried to make sure there was good artwork on the walls of the communal spaces and even built into the grounds, so it didn’t feel like a clinical kind of place. We try to follow that principle, what- ever the season. Obviously we decorate it at Christmas. This year in fact we had students coming forward and saying could they help decorate, so we popped a tree in ready for them, and the decorations, and they made it more the way they wanted it. We were delighted at them showing an interest in keeping the spirit alive. When there’s something on, say Halloween for example, a few of them arrange a get together. The place feels friendly, homely and warm.
I’m a Fifer, born only five miles from here, so I know things that are going on. For example, a couple of girls have come to me that are, like myself, coeliac. I’ve been able to point them to the best places they can buy their main food sources and where they can go out to eat. All these little things benefit from local knowledge. If students want to find their own way and are totally in- dependent that’s absolutely fine, but I’ve noticed over the last few months, with the new intake, that more and more come and say, “Pammy, my rela- tives are coming up, is there some place you can recommend?” It seems to have travelled round our community here that I have some knowledge
and if I can help them I will. I’ll point them in the right direction. Because I’m local I know the not necessarily mainstream places
Private rented accommodation is actually quite shockingly expensive in St Andrews. East Shore has really made a difference. It means you can get somewhere nice, where the bills are paid, for a reasonable amount of money. Most of the properties in this area are, to be honest, rather fallen down and landlords still can charge a fortune. Then, for the very rich students, there’s another level – a money is no object level where you get something nicer. It’s good that this is here to fill a gap. East Shore has I think become very popular because of its reputation and the fact that the facilities are very nice. It’s a modern fresh building, it’s well appointed, and it has fantastic views. It’s not right in the middle of town, but not so far away that it causes a problem
Scotland St Andrews
Maths and Physics Student
St Andrews University
I’m from the Shetland Isles. I decided to go to St Andrews, as it’s just one of the best places academically and, to be quite honest, I wasn’t going to go outside of Scotland because it’s cheaper to stay in Scotland. People wouldn’t normally expect anyone to choose St Andrews as a cheap option, but I’ll get my fees paid, this accommodation is reasonably priced and there are no daily transport costs.
So St Andrews was a definite choice, as opposed to Edinburgh, Glasgow or Aberdeen. An awful lot of people from Shetland end up in Aberdeen. That’s where everyone goes on their holiday, and some of them don’t come back. I decided I’d been there too many times already.
Joking aside, St Andrews appealed to me as it’s a smaller place, but I’m from a very small place, so this is big for me, but small enough that I thought it would be easier to adapt.
This accommodation is really nice. Beautiful location. It’s a lot better than the first year flat I went to. The place I was in last time had a wonderful view of a bike shelter. There were also lots of niggles, like not having heating for a week in December.
The immediate environs are kind of nice and I’ve got the sea beside me, so it reminds me of home. The mix of people in my flat is pretty good. I think they’ve put all us maths and science types together and they seem nicely
antisocial, which is fine, because I’m quite antisocial myself. I’ve got my room and my en-suite and everything, but if I go to the kitchen, living room bit, I can still sometimes be on my own, or I can be antisocial together with other peo- ple. I hear there are other flats where groups of sociable people stay together. I’m sure it’s very nice for them.
My friends, they have this thing where they’re trying to get me to go to the Student Union because, so far, this is my second year and I haven’t even been ten times in total – I’m not a big drinker or anything like that, so I don’t really mind, but they’re actively trying to drag me to nights out and stuff. I really don’t feel the need, but we’ll see.
I’m planning to stay in St Andrews till I get a Masters but it depends how this year goes. The Physics department have this weird thing where you have to get a certain average grade for the year to go on to Masters, and another to do Bachelors. If I can’t do Masters I won’t cry myself to sleep at night. I’ll be perfectly satisfied with a Bachelors at this stage.
I’ll definitely try and go back to the Shetlands to find a job in future. It really is a nice place. Very much my home. With modern technology, I hope I can work in a large variety of places in all sorts of different areas. Even the Shetlands.
MA International Relations Student
St Andrews
I decided to study at St Andrews, partly be- cause International Relations is quite a niche course, so there’s not a lot of departments that have it. I originally applied to do law everywhere else and then I decided that this looked more interesting. I’m interested in hu- man rights and International Relations kind of encompasses a lot of different disciplines there’s a bit of philosophy, a bit of social anthropology – it’s a political science really but it’s much more multi-dimensional so I thought it would be more interesting than studying straight law. It’s a fascinating subject and I can go on and do a variety of things : journalism, law is still open, obviously politics. Human rights is what I’m interested in however.
In St Andrews there’s a major problem with supply and demand in terms of housing, so when you’re in first year there’s quite a mad rush, by about December, to get a good group of people together and start applying for houses, but a lot of people actually don’t get houses. It’s very competitive and it’s quite stressful. I had a group of four friends and we were starting to look at places, but a lot of them were very expensive as well for what you got. Some people live in the middle of the town and are paying £800 a month each for a room in quite dingy flats.
At East Shore you’ve got a really nice room in a lovely modern shared flat and it’s £500 including all the bills. It’s a really nice location. It is a bit like halls in that it kind of feels a bit like a work environment which possibly make you work harder. The staff are very friendly and helpful as well. So me and a couple of friends just decided to avoid the whole two month stress of trying to find somewhere in town and so we all booked here.
There are eight people in the whole flat but the three of us made sure we were in together and then we met the other people just on arrival. So it was really nice, we kind of got the best of both worlds.
I’ve heard of people being placed, and sympathetic management looking at who might fit and whatever, but I’ve not heard of groups of friends just organ- ising it together, like you would if you were just choosing a flat, but it seemed
Scotland St Andrews
to make sense. We came over for a viewing. We had a look at one of the flats and we just requested to be together and they said that was fine. In fact next year, if we rebook which I think we probably will – we are going to try to be together again.
So in St Andrews, the actual private rented sector is very expensive for low quality and if you want high quality it’s silly money. This is a small place, with a lot of wealthy students, so the landlords can charge a fortune. Most people aren’t familiar with this corner of town, so they think it’s quite far out which is quite silly. St Andrews has this weird thing where you end up with ‘St An- drews time’ in your head, so walking from one end of the town to the other becomes a big walk – so I’m like 15 minutes away, or a 20 minutes walk from Tesco say, or a 15 minute walk from my lecture theatre – but people here see that as a lot. It’s nothing!
It’s beautiful here. The coastal walks are stunning and then just walking to my lecture theatre is gorgeous. It means I get a ten or fifteen minute walk in the morning and I really like it.
It’s also very positive that East Shore has obviously provided people, who aren’t from wealthy backgrounds, with somewhere really nice to live and study in St Andrews. People have been commuting in from Dundee, for ex- ample, as they couldn’t afford to live anywhere near St Andrews even though this is where they’re studying.
I’ll be here till I graduate, then I’ll probably get out because I actually am quite a city person weirdly enough. I love cities, I always have, I’m not really that into small towns but it was mainly the course that brought me here and I do really like it. So I’m hoping to go to a city and maybe do a graduate law degree – if I still want to do that – or maybe something in media instead. I can’t really decide between the two. There’s plenty of room for choice and this course will give me a lot of knowledge. It’s a really interesting course and I’m going to specialise in what I want as well, so Middle Eastern studies or something. My dream would be to work for Al Jazeera or something like that. We’ll see what happens.
Lit Art History Student
St Andrews University
I grew up in a little village and still lived there when at University in Vienna, which is a long daily commute. I had to drive to the nearest train station, take a crowded train to the city, then crowded subway journeys, so I really enjoy having this beautiful fifteen to twenty minute walk from East Shore to my department at St Andrews University.
Beforehand, even though I was studying in the city, my life hadn’t taken a massive leap because I was basically still living where I’d always lived. Now it’s taken a massive leap, different country, different everything.
At the moment I am still here as an exchange student, doing the Erasmus programme, basically to get credits here and use them for my studies in Vienna, but I am seriously thinking about becoming a regular student here. For one thing I am studying medieval manuscripts and illuminations and there is an internationally renowned Professor here who specialises in that. The library also has a special collection with the gospels and gospel manuscripts, but also Islamic manuscripts, which I am currently researching. It’s quite an extraordinary thing, to have the manuscripts before you and actually have a look at them.
There are also lot of very interesting medieval lists here with very specific topics that I would be interested in, such as book illumination or early Islamic art, because I am also studying Classical Archaeology back in Vienna. Art History and Classical Archaeology are looked upon as two different studies that
I can’t really bridge in Austria, but it’s nice here because they’re combined. As far as accommodation in St Andrews is concerned, I can’t tell you how happy and relieved I am to be here, rather than any of the other accommo- dation options. It’s even better than I imagined and wonderful being right on the shore, beside the beach, with the sea crashing in. I really enjoy my walks to the Uni and back along by the beach, past the ancient cathedral, especially with me being a medievalist. I’m inspired every day.
Living here has more than fulfilled what I hoped it would from going online. It’s a very nice setup between the rooms and the shared spaces. So there’s
actually a good balance of privacy and having nine other people share a flat with you, which is a rather large amount of people. I’ve never lived with that many people before, so at first I was a bit insecure about it, but that quickly changed. You have your very private room with the ensuite bathroom, which was a must for me. The kitchen and communal living room area is very big so there’s actually no problem if all of us are in there, which isn’t that often. Sometimes we organise meetings though, or a big dinner, which is really nice, to get to know the others. We’re from lots of different countries, cultures and backgrounds. We have two Chinese people, three Germans, one from Ireland, two from Wales and one from Hungary, then me from a little village in Austria, who’d certainly never met half these nationalities before.
So, in a way I’m learning a lot about the world through the people here. Obviously I’m studying very specialised and fascinating history, but as far as the modern world is concerned, I’m getting a microcosm of a lot of things, through the people I’m getting to know, through being here.
I’m also learning about other subjects because there is such a range. One of the guys is studying Divinity, another Classics – which is more closely related to my field – others in the flat are doing things involving complex economics, which is cool to learn about, though I’d rather stay in my field.
It’s very interesting to see what they have to do, though, in contrast to what I have to do, the kind of essays I have to write and the presentations. So it’s a nice place for connecting with others and exchanging information and learning about new cultures.
This experience has shown me how nice it is to live in an independent way. I would like to come back and do a PhD and probably when I come back I would again choose East Shore. As well as being really practical and all the other things I like about it, I’m not doing much sport so I really need those walks along the beach to the department.
I can focus on my studies here. Feel peaceful, but not isolated. I think that because I’m studying something that is deeply historical, feeling that I’m in a small city that is steeped in so much history does put me in the mood. There’s loads of history in Vienna, but it’s a really big city. It’s very rushed and very stressful and here it’s calmer and more relaxed. The whole environment, and the ruins, are just beautiful to look at. Definitely I think that is one of the points why I prefer it here.
MA Economics and Statistics Student
St Andrews University
I was born in South Africa, but moved to Chicago in the States when I was about a year and a half old. I chose to come here, partly because of the four year Masters. Also the fact that, in the States, the first year or so of university are general education- it’s essentially like doing the last year of high school again. I figured I’d rather come to a university where I could, right off the bat, start with classes in what I’m interested in.
St Andrews also ranks really high in many of its departments across the board and I find the departments I’m in brilliant to work with. After rounding down to Oxford, Edinburgh, and St Andrews, I took a summer school at Oxford and loved the city, but found out that the way they structured things would not suit my style. There’s a lot of one-on-one or one-on-two teaching and mandatory contact hours. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing but person- ally I prefer a more removed approach to study, where I’m allowed to do stuff on my own time.
Edinburgh is not an enormous city, but it’s a proper city, with four different universities. I loved it when I visited it, but I definitely felt that if I was going to go to a city, I may as well have gone to a really big city. The thing that nailed it, was when I visited St Andrews, went to the open day and just really enjoyed the smaller campus vibe.
I was in essentially very similar accommodation last year, just not nearly as nice. The location wasn’t good and the facilities here are significantly nicer. I figured that if I’m studying in a coastal town, why the hell am I not living on the water. At East Shore I couldn’t really be a lot more on the water without being on the beach. I’ve got a sea view from my bedroom and my living room, which is amazing and one of the mains reason for me living here. For the most part I absolutely love it.
There are always funny little differences that you have to adjust to in other countries and cultures. One I would think of is that in the States we have drain disposals where you just press a button to grind everything up in the sink. This is totally part of the culture, standard issue and it makes life so easy.
Scotland St Andrews
Many people this side of the Atlantic don’t know what I’m talking about, apart from comedy moments in American films and TV involving faulty drain disposals and bad plumbers.
After my degree here I’m probably going to get more qualifications, maybe even an MBA. As for where I work, if I had to guess, I’m more likely than not going to be in the finance world, so probably Chicago, New York, maybe LA or London.
This is an absolutely beautiful place to go to university, a beautiful place to learn. However I know that after these four years I definitely am going to want to be in a big city. One of the issues here is that it’s very unusual for social cir- cles to not have some overlaps because of the size. So in a way people have to get on with everybody more than they perhaps naturally would. I mean it’s not a bad thing and, to be fair, it’s probably a good skill to learn, because it could be similar in the work place
Scotland St Andrews
