The competition brief from City and Islington College called for a Further Education building on the busy Goswell Road that would be visible and open to the community to attract adult learners from all over London, with good facilities that efficiently replaced the numerous poor buildings then being used by the College.
On turning into Islington’s busy Goswell Road, a short distance from Angel underground station, one’s eye immediately alights upon the arresting 6th Form Centre building for City and Islington College (CIC). The building is both welcoming to the students and passers-by, and robust enough to withstand the traffic noise pollution and the wear and tear created by its thousands of students. It is, as required by the brief, a 24hour advertisement for the College.
Won in a competition to replace a series of poor buildings scattered around Islington, the 6th Form Centre building we designed projects a feeling of openness and welcome. It has both general and specialised teaching spaces, with a large hall just inside the entrance providing a flexible social assembly space that can be used for events and presentations. The building was completed in 2001, yet remains very well used and is a fundamental ingredient of the College’s (now part of the Capital City Colleges Group) 6th Form continuing success story.
“van Heyningen and Haward were commissioned by City and Islington College to design the college’s new Lifelong Learning Centre based at the Angel following a national RIBA design competition. During the design phase the brief was changed to a Sixth Form College following intervention from the DfES. The resultant redesign reinforced the reasons why van Heyningen and Haward won the original competition. A combination of light, acoustics and imaginative use of durable materials has resulted in a landmark building which inspires learning. I am happy to recommend them to other clients.”Peter Marsh – former Deputy Principal, Finance and Corporate Planning
https://www.candi.ac.uk/about-us/our-centres-and-locations/sixth-form-college/sfc-tour/
