James Stirling, St. Andrew’s Melville Hall, St. Andrews, Scotland, 1968

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Biography :

James Stirling (1926-1992), of Great Britain is considered by many as the premier architect of his generation, an unparalleled innovator in postwar international architecture. Stirling was born in Glasgow in 1926. He was educated at the University of Liverpool School of Architecture and began his own practice in partnership with James Gowan in London in 1956. Over a seven-year period they designed some of the most significant projects of the time, most notably the garden apartments at Ham Common (1955-58), the seminal Engineering Building at Leicester University (1959-63), and the Cambridge University History Building (1964-67).

The building was design in the New Brutalist style, and built during a major expansion of the University in the 1960s. The architect used prefabricated concrete modules. Errors in construction meant that extensive remedial work was required over several decades. Plans for further buildings to the same design were abandoned.

The material of Andrew Melville Hall is resolutely of the sixties, patterned concrete – in fact the texture of the facades has a strong effect on the overall feel of the building. The angled pattern works at the micro scale and resonates with the angled articulation of window bays (and various lesser elements). The building is formed by two wings angled in plan that face roughly east out to the North Sea. Andrew Melville Hall is located on the north side of the town and faces onto the famous golf course. The land slopes up to the west.

It is of a striking design and is situated prominently at the North Haugh on a ridge overlooking the St Andrews Links. The hall resembles passing ships, a common theme of the architect’s style. It has become an important architectural landmark: It was included in DoCoMoMo’s 1993 list of Key Scottish Monuments and was ranked number 12 in the top 100 Scottish buildings of the last 50 years