Bartram was delighted to receive a ‘Highly commended’ certificate from the Wood Awards 2017 for the supplying of timber for Cowan Court.
Cowan Court is a new, environmentally sound 68-room hall of residence for Churchill College, originally founded in 1958. Three storeys of student bedrooms are arranged around an inner square court, echoing the original Sheppard Robson buildings. Rather than a traditional grass quad, the court is filled with densely planted birch trees which shelter an informal garden. The board-marked concrete found in traditional courts has been replaced by dark timber reclaimed from French railway carriages. The brown weathered boards blend harmoniously with the redbrown tones of the original blockwork. This patina is offset by windows of a new, lighter joinery oak. The structure of the building is made of laminated soft wooden beams and posts which remain exposed in most areas, giving rhythm and natural depth to the interior and echoing the original buildings.
