Goodenough College, Bloomsbury, London



Architect Sir Herbert Baker, his partner Alexander T. Scott, and their successor Vernon Helbing
Date Built
1935 - 1963
Location
Guilford Street
Description
Goodenough College was incorporated in 1930 by a group of prominent Londoners, including Frederick Goodeough, the Chairman of Barclays Bank. The idea was to provide able young men from the Dominions and Colonies, who may go on to be future leaders, with a collegiate life in London that mirrored the Oxford & Cambridge experience.  The plan was to locate it in Bloomsbury and an island site was found between Guilford Street and Mecklenburgh Square.  Initially, the college was accommodated in old houses on the site but in 1935 work began on the building we see today.  It spans all four sides of the island site with a large central courtyard.  It took almost 30 years to build in three stages



Stage One saw the construction of the south-east corner that included the Great Hall, the Charles Parsons Library, common-rooms and the Guilford Street Entrance. (below)








Stage Two was built between 1948–53. It created the rest of the south wing, the west wing and the north-west corner. Alexander Scott was the architect and he continued much in Sir Herbert Baker’s style.






The final stage between 1961 and 1963 saw the addition of the North Wing along with the north-east corner.





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