Towers Hall

Towers Ball is a Hall of Residence accommodating 310 students at Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, United Kingdom, it is located on the 'East Park' of the University's vast campus.

Design and construction

Towers was designed by Gollins Melvin Ward & Partners Chartered Architects of London in 1963, who were also designers of much of University of Sheffield, the British Airways terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York and the Royal Military Academy building. The building was originally the proposed by John Bridgeman, the Principal of the Loughborough Teacher Training College. Bridgeman retired in 1963, and the building was completed in the time of the next principal, John Hardie.

Built during 1964-5 by William Moss & Sons Ltd, based in Loughborough, the construction process was not without event as the building began to subside at 8 storeys high as a result of a marsh which lay where Butler Court, a more recent Hall of Residence, now sits, so building work had to be postponed while concrete was pumped into the foundations of the structure. The building is 210ft (64m) high in total; The East tower is about 157ft (48m) and the West about 183ft (56m). Although the building was finished in 1966 Towers was first used for accommodation in September 1967.http://accommodation.lboro.ac.uk/halldetail.php?recordID=15 SAC - Halls of Residence -Towers [Accessed 23 July 2008] ] The building is a Locally Listed Building of important interest, its description on Charnwood Borough Council's record states that it is a "severe ‘modern’ high rise block comprising 2 towers of 22 and 18 storeys linked by a central access tower" and is significant for its "cold, grey modular pre-cast concrete construction". [http://www.charnwood.gov.uk/environment/loughborough.html Charnwood Borough Council - Environment & Planning - Loughborough Local [Accessed 23 July 2008] ]

Layout and usage

From first taking residents in 1967 the hall was divided, East Tower for Men, West Tower for Women until the College of Education amalgamated with the University in 1977, and the hall became a mixed hall in September 1978. [http://www.towershall.org.uk Towers Hall :: Lufbra University::The Virtual Tower]

Whilst the towers were divided by sex doors on each floor were locked to prevent mingling between the male and female students, locks are still visible on these doors. At around this time female students were allowed to stay the full four years of their teacher training course in Hall, while Male students had to live elsewhere in their second year. The original 1967 rent in the catered hall was just £310 pounds, compared to £4,063 in 2007 which is a 35 week let including catering service for any type of student. [http://accommodation.lboro.ac.uk/dowloads/hall-fees-0708.pdf Hall Fees 2007-2008 [Accessed 23 July 2008] ] Other significant changes have been the removal of the laundry room from floor 21 and the enclosure of the base of the tower, it was originally possible to walk right under the structure from one side to the other.

The physical layout of the Hall gives 17 floors in the east tower each containing 6 bedrooms (A-F), a small kitchen, a shower and a toilet, these floors being single sex and predominately male; the exception is the 13th floor which is traditionally female. In the west tower floors have 11 bedrooms (A-L), two bathrooms, two toilets and a large kitchen on each of the 20 floors that accommodate students, and these floors are mixed sex and approximately half male and half female.http://www.towershall.org.uk/html/freshers/2008/expect.html Towershall.com Freshers' Week 2008 - What to Expect [Accessed 23 July 2008] ]

The building has lifts in each tower, with the lifts on the east side travelling to the even numbered floors, and the west lifts going to the odd numbered floors, there are also a number of student storage rooms located around the hall.

ee also

*Loughborough University

References

External links

* [http://www.towershall.org.uk Towers Hall Website]
* [http://accommodation.lboro.ac.uk/halldetail.php?recordID=15 University Accommodation site for Towers]