Homerton College Dining Hall / Feilden Fowles

Architects: Feilden Fowles
Area: 1,665 m²
Year: 2022
Photography: David Grandorge, Jim Stephenson, David Valinsky
Design Team: Edmund Fowles, Eleanor Hedley, Akshara Pulpa, Rory Allen, Ben Higham, Nick Crane, Matthew Glen
Project Architects: Eleanor Hedley, Akshara Pulpa
Main Contractor: Barnes Construction
Project Manager: Ingleton Wood Martindales
Structural Engineer: Structure Workshop
Sustainability, Services & Acoustic Engineer: Max Fordham
Civil Engineer (Drainage): Peter Dann
QS: Bremner Partnership
Landscape Architect (Concept): SEED
Landscape Architect (Delivery): Hortus Collective
Faience: Darwen Terracotta/Szerelmey
Structural Timber Frame: Constructional Timber Hall, Buttery, Servery)
Internal Joinery: Classic Barfitting Ltd
In-situ Concrete: MJS Construction
Bespoke Furniture (Dining Hall): Luke Hughes
Furniture & Interior Design Consultant (Buttery): Eve Waldron
Client: Homerton College, University of Cambridge
City: Cambridge
Country: United Kingdom

Homerton College Dining Hall in Cambridge, designed by Feilden Fowles, was completed in 2022 to accommodate the growing student body. The building combines Arts and Crafts design principles with modern construction techniques, featuring hand-crafted green faience tiles and a timber-framed structure. Prioritizing sustainability, it incorporates passive ventilation, a ground source heat pump, and low embodied carbon materials, exceeding RIBA 2030 environmental targets. The hall functions as both a daily dining space and a venue for formal events, fostering campus connectivity while respecting the College’s historic character.

Homerton College, established in 1768 by dissenting academics, occupies a site in southern Cambridge originally built for Cavendish College in the 1870s. Relocating from its initial East London location in 1894, it became a full University of Cambridge college in 2010 and now has the largest student population among the colleges. Spanning 10 hectares, its grounds feature extensive lawns, gardens, an orchard, and sports fields, reflecting its commitment to an engaging academic and community environment.

The new dining hall, situated northwest on the estate, completes the historic northern range of buildings and forms a social cornerstone for the campus. Designed as a welcoming, multi-faceted structure, it addresses diverse spatial relationships: integrating with College grounds to the south and east, harmonizing with the Grade II-listed Ibberson Building, and improving connections to graduate residences and parking to the west. Surrounding informal spaces, such as cloisters, courtyards, and façade-integrated seating, encourage casual interactions among students and staff.

Homerton required dining and catering facilities to support growing numbers and fulfill both functional and ceremonial purposes. The new dining hall accomplishes this by offering a light-filled, open atmosphere during the day and a dramatic, formal setting in the evening. Unlike many traditional halls, its base is open and transparent, with southern-facing views of ancient meadow and mature trees.

The building accommodates 336 diners and features a separate buttery seating up to 60, serving as an informal café and quiet study area.

Drawing inspiration from Arts and Crafts traditions, the building is clad in green faience tiles, a handcrafted ceramic popularized in Victorian England. Feilden Fowles collaborated with Darwen Terracotta to develop the tiles, selecting colors that harmonize with the College’s red brick and sandstone architecture. The façade’s 3,200 tapered tiles ascend to reveal clerestory glazing, which glows at night, echoing motifs from the 1889 Gothic Revival Great Hall.

The building’s organization welcomes visitors through two primary entrances: one aligned with the Great Hall and Griffin Bar and another on Harrison Drive. These lead to the buttery, a central gathering space connected to the dining hall. A glulam timber frame with a butterfly truss, fabricated offsite, defines the hall’s form, offering an inverted valley-shaped roof. Handcrafted carpentry techniques and oak dowel joints emphasize craftsmanship and material integrity.

The building celebrates natural materials and traditional techniques while incorporating modern parametric modelling for its façade. Designed for a 100-year lifespan, it exceeds sustainability benchmarks. Sustainability consultants Max Fordham applied a matrix of 22 bespoke targets, achieving passive ventilation, an all-electric system, and a ground source heat pump, reducing CO₂ emissions by 40%. Its embodied carbon surpasses the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge standards.

A pigmented concrete plinth defines the ground floor, employing 50% GGBS cement replacement. The 3m x 3m column grid brings rationality to the layout, while timber-framed civic areas provide open and uplifting spaces. Kitchens and staff facilities are efficiently connected to public areas. Brick façades of service areas feature Flemish bond and tile detailing that resonate with the adjacent Ibberson Building.

By offsetting kitchen and hall volumes, the design enhances daylighting and outdoor views, improving staff welfare and operational efficiency. In contrast to the College’s previous servery, the new space is generous, naturally lit, and overlooks a western courtyard.

Handcrafted elements are celebrated in Shezad Dawood’s site-specific artwork, “Golden Apples of the Sun.” The installation includes hand-sculpted brick headers, a ceramic mural depicting the College’s orchard, and a short film showcasing orchard footage and clay sourcing. The artwork, like the building, reflects Homerton’s unique history and setting.

Project Gallery

Project Location

Address: Homerton College, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 8PH, United Kingdom

Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.