Fen Court at Peterhouse

Fen Court at Peterhouse is a college residential building constructed in 1939-40 by architects Hughes and Bicknell for the Master and Fellows of Peterhouse. It stands on Trumpington Street on the west side.

The building is executed in gault brick and in situ and precast cast concrete, with the second floor finished in roughcast and end stacks of purple brick. It features purple brick piers and pilotis supporting a flat roof crowned with a glazed lantern. The design exemplifies the International Modern style.

The plan takes the form of a T, with the head of the T positioned close to the Museum of Classical Archaeology. The building comprises three storeys and a basement. Metal-framed Crittall windows of 4-6 lights occupy the ground and first floors, while the second floor has 2-6 light openings. Roughcast sill and lintel bands run across the lower floor fronts facing the fen, with mainly separate sills and lintels elsewhere. To the east at first-floor level, a 2-window range faces south, while to the west a 6-window range extends in a curved form at its end. A 4-window wing projects southwards from the main mass, raised on pilotis, though a basement runs beneath it. The principal entrance is located in the head of the T directly below this projecting wing. The doorcase is stone-moulded with a lintel carved in situ by Anthony Foster, a pupil of Eric Gill, depicting St Peter sinking in the waves and inscribed "DE PROFUNDIS CLAMAVI MCMXL".

The interior contains a staircase hall with an open well staircase fitted with a simple metal balustrade and wooden handrail. A full-height glass brick window lights this space. Above rises a light well with a curved end and window, surmounted by a tall circular lantern with continuous glazing. The residential sets feature hardwood woodwork in different woods on each floor, with doors having moulded architraves. Each set includes fitted bookshelves and cupboards with fire surrounds and panelling.

The building has particular architectural significance as the only pre-war Cambridge college accommodation designed in the International Modern style, and it established a prototype for college buildings subsequently constructed at both Oxford and Cambridge after the war. The T-plan solved a difficult site by maximizing views over the fen, while the pilotis allowed open access across the lawn for residents of Gisborne Court to enjoy views of the fen beyond.

The building possesses additional historical importance as it was constructed during the Second World War. The Bursar prudently assembled all materials on site before hostilities commenced, and the construction workforce comprised builders subsequently deployed to repair bomb damage in Cambridge. The basements were designed as air-raid shelters, constructed in reinforced concrete one foot thick and equipped with gas-tight doors. The building was funded by a bequest from Professor W. Emery Barnes (died 1939), and the principal design architect, Hugh Castrees Hughes (1893-1976), was a former Scholar of Peterhouse. The structure captures the optimistic freshness characteristic of the best of the modern movement while standing as an important prototype constructed during a time of exceptional adversity.