h+m formed part of a multi-disciplinary team to test the feasibility of the redevelopment of the University of West Scotland (UWS) campus in central Hamilton. The current campus lacks any sense of coherence through the disparate distribution of buildings, some of which are due for demolition. A range of development scenarios were considered, each based on the principles of a sequence of collegiate courtyards providing protection and security, such as those which characterise the colleges of Cambridge University.
The preferred option comprises a courtyard strategy which becomes more private and smaller in scale as students penetrate into the core of the campus. From the main public frontage, a predominantly hard landscape forecourt is linked by a central diagonal axis, reinforced by a tree avenue, which leads to more private courtyards where soft landscape becomes the dominant feature. A large new academic park on the site of the previous campus building creates a welcome public open space, with expansive lawn areas. Pedestrian routes are generous and direct, visually and physically connecting the campus buildings.