The Catalyst aims to be the spark that creates more apprentices and skilled workers in Staffordshire and beyond
Words by Emily Martin
Images by Dan Hopkinson
Project Info
Client: Staffordshire University
Architect: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios www.FCBStudios.com
Landscape Designer: Grant Associates
Cost: £40m
Area: 8,800 sq m
Project completion: Nov 2021
THE CATALYST BUILDING, or Catalyst, is a university hub at Staffordshire University providing the services and settings that will support students through their education and towards their employment. Whether a teaching and learning building, student hub and gateway between the university and industry, or fostering a busy student and visitor occupancy, the new facility supports the university’s objective of a ‘sticky campus’. The design, as undertaken by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBStudios) provides the kinds of calm, low energy, digitally enabled and adaptable spaces that users will be drawn to, both now and in the future.
The flagship facility is a landmark development in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent. Through its connections with industry, and as home to the university’s apprenticeship and business school programmes, it will help the university to grow the numbers of skilled apprentices and raise education levels in Staffordshire and beyond. It aims to work with 6,300 apprentices by 2030, and will be the first point of call for employers coming to work with the university, its students and apprentices.
Not only a learning space, the Catalyst also has catering facilities and areas for students to mingle
‘The university wanted Catalyst to be as open plan as possible,’ comments Hugo Marrack, partner, FCBStudios. ‘At the length of a football pitch, the space would be busy, but we wanted to calm it, to make a series of interlinked spaces that would make learning easily accessible and feel homely. The whole university could come together in this building for teaching, learning, social activities and to explore the next steps of employment beyond the campus.’
Users of the building will be able to shape their own experiences, whether in busier areas or by going through zones of quieter reflection
With open plan being the priority for the interior design, the structural grid and the very few columns have been set out to a ‘human dimension’. The building design allows for flexible spatial frameworks, both now and in the future, with digital space taking as important a role as physical space, and digital enablement being central. Spread over the different floors are a café and event facilities on the ground floor, a library, study spaces and a dedicated space for higher and degree apprentices on the uppermost floor.
Marrack explains: ‘A lot of thought went into inclusivity and accessibility, and the university has a great team curating the spaces, working on the digital displays, moving the furniture for different events, supporting the teaching and learning, as well as the university’s links out to business. The building is buzzing with activity.’
The building’s concrete frame provides a neutral external backdrop, but the student experience is enhanced by way of acoustic panels and carefully curated furniture
The building’s concrete frame provides a neutral backdrop, with timber linings, acoustic panels and carefully chosen furniture giving character and setting the scene for the interior space. The furniture selection has been specified to adapt to users comforts and needs within these flexible spaces. Whether for the whole day or a short period, user can ‘shape routes and atmospheres’ through the different areas of the building, albeit a personal tutorials or 100 person lectures. Whatever the need or use, FCB Studios uses power and comfort as tools to engineer how people use those spaces.
A cross-section of the Catalyst’s concept plan, which stretches to the length of a football pitch
The building was designed in tandem with the concept masterplan, also by FCB Studios, taking the opportunity to lay down the marker for future buildings in the campus. Material choices are intended to make the Catalyst Building both a visual landmark and sit comfortably within the local context. An angular frame of Staffordshire blue and red brick gives a modern yet functional design, with flexible, open-plan spaces across all levels of the building.
The building’s concrete frame provides a neutral external backdrop, but the student experience is enhanced by way of acoustic panels and carefully curated furniture
Says Marrack: ‘The walls are natural-finish ply and glass. The structure is concrete with exposed soffits and the acoustic rafts and baffles, which are integrated with the M&E, have a tonal quality. Special rooms are treated with black stained ply and a darker baffle.’
The Catalyst Building has been designed to be low energy, low water use and have a low environmental impact, in line with the university’s net-zero and one planet ambitions. The building envelope is highly efficient, airtight and uses exposed concrete as thermal mass. North-facing rooflights bring in daylight, but do not add to solar gain.
The building’s concrete frame provides a neutral external backdrop, but the student experience is enhanced by way of acoustic panels and carefully curated furniture
As part of a holistic design approach, materials and components have also been selected to minimise waste, for example the glazing design, which maximises natural lighting to interior spaces and an air-tight façade which reduces energy transfer and heat loss.
Key Suppliers
Surfaces
Kvadrat www.kvadrat.dk/en
Joyce & Reddington www.joyceandreddington.com
Flooring
Havwoods www.havwoods.com/uk
Johnson Tiles www.johnson-tiles.com
Wayfinding Signage
Rivermeade www.rivermeade.com
Furniture
Portsdown www.portsdown.co.uk
Lighting
Glamox www.glamox.com/en-gb/pbs
