Goodenough
College, Bloomsbury, London
Architect |
Sir Herbert Baker, his partner
Alexander T. Scott, and their successor Vernon
Helbing
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Date Built
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1935 - 1963
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Location
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Guilford Street |
Description
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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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