Swansea: waterfront campus

Swansea University’s Fulton House and residence halls were designed by architect Percy Thomas, responsible for Salford Civic Centre. 

Receiving its charter as the University College of Swansea in 1920, Swansea University was originally the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it became independent. Today the institution is research-led with a community which ‘thrives on exploration and discovery’. It has eight colleges located across two stunning waterfront campuses.

Fulton House and Halls of residence, 1961-62.
Location: Swansea Bay – literally opposite the sweep of sand that curves all the way to Mumbles Head. Architects: Sir Percy Thomas and Sons.

College House was designed as a bold experiment in the organization of a university community and as a centre of its social life. College House earned its Grade II listed status based on its post-war modernist style, designed by architects Sir Percy Thomas (1883-1969) and Sons of Cardiff. The building was named after John Fulton, who was the VC of the University of Wales.

The South elevation is extensively glazed to take full advantage of the views from the first-floor refectory which takes in Swansea Bay to Mumbles Head. Facilities: Restaurant Common Rooms / Health Service / careers advisory service / Music / exhibition area / bookshop and space for indoor recreation.

College House now known as Fulton House was designed on a pattern which is familiar in universities universally. It was a bold experiment in community building. Its purpose was to provide a wide range of catering, social and recreational facilities for a student population of about 2500. Fulton House serves as a convenient dining centre for the halls of residence nearby and its provides spacious accommodation with generous facilities such as shops and university services.

Fulton House enjoys a central position on the campus adjacent to the halls of residence and teaching buildings and is located on Mumbles Road. It stands in prominent position facing south and commands a fine view of the large Singleton Park and the beautiful coastline towards Mumbles Head. It is a multi-purpose building, and the architectural design was therefore greatly influenced by the need to provide for a wide range of different facilities and amenities in one building.

Fulton House falls naturally into a large central unit flanked by projecting wings. The central block accommodating the kitchens on the ground floor and the large refectory with its original to opening in 1962, hanging lamps on the first floor and three large dining rooms on the second floor. Advantage was taken of the height of the refectory to form a mezzanine floor which accommodated three smaller dining rooms.

The wings of the building held the Senior and Junior common rooms, a coffee lounge, a snack room, music and recreation rooms. There was also the Students’ Union office alongside the College Welfare Service and a Medical Centre. There was always a bookshop and a barber’s shop at the main entrance. You can see from the images that the refectory dominates the first floor of Fulton House and the dining rooms on the second level. All these rooms face south, and the glazing extends from floor to ceiling in order to take advantage of the magnificent views of Swansea Bay. Bliss!

In 1964 an extraordinary addition was made to the refectory in the way of the enormous 1.98 x 6.9 meter masterpiece of Ceri Richards ‘Rape of Europa’ (1964) painting which still hangs with modernist beauty across the width of the space. The painting has recently been cleaned by conservators and is brighter than ever.

In 1962 it was essential with such large areas of glass to prevent serious heat loss in winter and corresponding solar gain in summer. Sealed double glazing units were fitted. The outer pane being of ‘anti-sun’ glass which reduced the glare and heat absorption form the sun. The wall and floor finishes of the refectory and dining rooms were of selected hardwoods. Ceilings were of suspended perforated plaster tiles which ensured necessary acoustic qualities. The symmetrical elevation is positioned centrally to the south and today traffic can move around the grounds below in a circle to enter and exit the campus onto Mumbles Road. The entrance hall is fully glazed and were designed for use of exhibition spaces. The Smiths, Eurythmics, Primal Scream and The Charlatans have played live in the refectory in the last 40 years. Careful consideration was given to the interior design and appearance of each room in Fulton House. Design Research Unit, who were one of the first British design consultancies (who excelled with delivering The Festival of Britain and the British Rail logo and branding) designed and selected all the furniture, curtains and carpets throughout the building in collaboration with the architects Sir Percy Thomas and Sons.

What a privilege to have each item carefully selected, with thought and design being foremost here. Thank goodness Fulton House is grade 2 listed and the stunning lamps are still hanging gracefully today!

Halls of Residence blocks.
Architects: Sir Percy Thomas and Sons, 1962.

Located on such a magnificent site but with physical limitations, the only way to provide the required residential accommodation for a thousand students in 1962 on campus was to build multi-storey halls of residence. Neuadd Sibly and Neuadd Lewis Jones are very similar in design with roughly 165 rooms each and each forms a quadrangle with single storey common rooms.

Each block has 9 floors of bedrooms, and each room is identical. Most bedrooms were positioned to enjoy the glorious views of Swansea Bay. Several oak trees were carefully preserved around the halls of residence as the land was part of Singleton Park originally. The bedroom interiors were considered, and furnishings of all rooms consisted of cork or linoleum floorings, plastered walls and insulation board ceilings. The structure is of reinforced concrete and all partition walls are brickwork.

Externally the blocks had a simple finish of Portland Stone cladding and Uxbridge blue/black flint bricks, and the contrast was provided by teak window units. The large windows opened horizontally and reversable for cleaning. Again the original furnishings were specially designed by The Design Research Unit to meet the students needs of the time. Mahogany was used throughout and provided high quality furniture at reasonable cost. The colour schemes for the bedrooms were fabrics with rich warm colours for rooms facing north and a cooler palate for those facing south towards the all day sun.

When can we move back to 60 years ago, please!?

Catrin James is an archivist and artist who primarily works with Swansea’s post war architecture. She works in collage, print, film, oral history and ‘guerrilla restoration’ to interpret her practice. She runs the Swansea Modernist chapter of The Modernist Society, is a board member for the C20 Cymru Society and is often saving Swansea architectural design details from disappearing forever by giving them to the local Museum. See more of her work here. With kind thanks to the International Fine Art Conservators Studios.