Morgan Hall, The Lawns

Morgan Hall, The Lawns

A university hall of residence built between 1963 and 1967 to designs by Isi Metzstein and Andrew MacMillan of the architectural practice Gillespie, Kidd and Coia, appointed by the University of Hull in 1961.

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. Morgan Hall forms one of six halls of residence that together comprise the planned layout of The Lawns. The hall itself is self-contained, arranged as a quadrangle of three-storey study bedrooms plus a basement, with a lower range behind housing wardens and tutorial staff. The overall form is roughly triangular with broken and staggered sides. Staggered cross-walls create 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.

Morgan Hall abuts Nicholson Hall and Lambert Hall; Reckitt and Grant Halls form an adjoining pair; Downs Hall stands freestanding between the two groups. The two linear groups together form longer zig-zag walls of study bedrooms.

The outer, flat-roofed, three-storey brick elevation with basement faces west over the central grassland. Five obliquely angled blocks of five stepped bays project out in a rough triangle to the foremost central block, with the recessed fifth block partially abutting Nicholson Hall. 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 façades. The staircase bay in the fifth block has a doorway leading out onto a flight of metal steps with a steel ribbon balustrade. On the left-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 have an offset deeper window beneath, lighting kitchens and bathrooms. The central block also has a timber-framed sliding glazed doorway to the left 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 and a number of horizontal timber fascias to the flat roofs. 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 has a brick storage area on the outer, east side and a canopy over the quadrangle entrance attaches it to another single-storey, single-bay block that projects eastwards, incorporating a garage, with a two-storey, flat-roofed warden's house attached to this and the south block. The south block has a stepped front elevation facing into the quadrangle, with a glazed porch and landing window above, both with timber fascias, and a taller block on the right 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.

Interior

Each of the five study bedroom blocks is arranged around a staircase placed either parallel to or at right angles to stepped rooms on wide landings with half-level parlour spaces opening off the staircases. 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 has a tiled floor, possibly also elsewhere beneath carpet, and the living room, dining room and landing have timber-boarded ceilings. The closed-string staircase has plywood panelling beneath a 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. Most fixtures and fittings have been replaced.

The courtyard contains low walls bounding paths, external steps to the staircase blocks and steps to the underpass. Steps to the underpass also exist on the west side of the building.