Downs Hall, The Lawns

Downs Hall, The Lawns

Downs Hall is a university hall of residence built between 1963 and 1967 to designs by Isi Metzstein and Andrew MacMillan of the practice Gillespie, Kidd and Coia, who were appointed by the University of Hull in 1961. It is one of six halls of residence forming an integral part of The Lawns planned layout.

The building is constructed of loadbearing brick walls in buff and grey handmade sandstock bricks, with ground floors and roofs of timber and intermediate floors of concrete.

The hall comprises a self-contained quadrangle of three-storey study bedrooms plus a basement, with a lower range to the rear housing wardens and tutorial staff. The overall plan is roughly triangular but with broken and staggered sides. Staggered cross-walls form a series of parallelograms defining the study bedrooms, which are split into five self-contained staircase units. Each room has its own angled balcony concealed from its neighbour by the stepped plan. Downs Hall stands between two linear groups: Lambert Hall, Nicholson Hall and Morgan Hall on one side, and Reckitt and Grant Halls on the other.

The outer, flat-roofed, brick elevation of three storeys and a basement faces west with five obliquely angled blocks of five stepped bays projecting out in a rough triangle to the foremost central block. Each study bedroom has an orthogonally set window and balcony, concealed from its neighbour by the stepped plan. The balconies have thick brick balustrades with narrow gaps below. Rows of bricks set vertically or on edge mark floor and roof slabs and the edges of the balustrades. The rooms have timber-framed sliding windows to access the balconies. Each block incorporates an orthogonal staircase bay with full-width fixed and top-hinged timber-framed windows and copper fascias. The staircase bays are set in different positions in the various blocks, giving a varying rhythm to the facades. On the right-hand side of the central block is a shallow angled flight of brick steps down to an underpass through to the quadrangle. The brick return walls have three or four rows of horizontal windows mostly to the inner end, some with an offset deeper window beneath, lighting kitchens and bathrooms. The central block also has a timber-framed sliding glazed doorway to the right return.

The inner elevation has three-storey, five-bay stepped blocks of study bedrooms with balustrades, with the central three blocks facing east into the quadrangle and the two outer blocks overlooking grass and trees. Three external flights of brick steps with steel ribbon balustrades lead up to oversized timber and glazed doorways into staircase halls. A shallow flight of wide brick-edged steps and an angled flight of brick steps lead down to the underpass, where there are oversized doors into the two other staircase halls. Paths alongside the blocks are edged with low zig-zag brick walls.

The quadrangle is closed by the lower, flat-roofed east range with similar brickwork detailing. Abutting the inner corners of the outermost three-storey blocks are single-storey stepped blocks of two bays with sliding windows opening into the quadrangle and doors to the side elevations. The north block is attached to a two-storey, flat-roofed warden's house and a long single-storey, single-bay block of offices and senior common room, with an attached garage and storage to the east. A canopy over the quadrangle entrance attaches to the south block, with a bin store to the east. The warden's house has a stepped front elevation facing into the quadrangle, with a glazed porch and landing window above, both with copper fascias, and a taller block on the left with two horizontal slit windows on the first floor and a small rectangular window on the ground floor. The rear, east elevation is stepped with windows on both floors.

Internally, each of the five study bedroom blocks is arranged around a staircase either placed parallel to or at right angles to stepped rooms on wide landings. Half-level parlours opening off the staircases are separated by inserted glazed timber screens and doors. On each floor, larger kitchens have been inserted either into former double study bedrooms or extended single rooms.

The circulation areas have exposed brick walls with concrete floor plates and plywood panelling, wood-veneered doors and timber architraves on the landings. The ground-floor stair entrances have tiled floors and the ceilings on the ground floor and top floor have timber boarding. The staircases have balustrades of three horizontal timber rails fixed to slender square black steel posts and steel brackets. The upper and middle rails are swept with individual straight bottom rails. The study bedrooms have plastered walls.

The warden's house has exposed brick walls to the stairwell, first-floor landing and the double-height dining area at the foot of the stairs, which is separated from the living room by a feature brick wall with a hatch in the opposing wall into the kitchen. The rooms are otherwise plastered, with wood veneer doors and timber architraves. The porch and dining area have tiled floors, and the living room, dining room and landing have timber boarded ceilings. The closed-string staircase has plywood panelling beneath the balustrade of slender vertical timber posts attached to a horizontal rail and alternating between a number of full-height posts and lower posts forming apertures. A similar balustrade on the first-floor landing overlooks the dining area. Most fixtures and fittings have been replaced. The attached blocks have some tiled floors, wood-veneered doors and timber architraves. The former senior common room has exposed brick walls, some plywood panelling and a timber boarded ceiling with a canopy with square lights. Most fixtures and fittings have been replaced.