We designed this state-of-the-art teaching and learning hub to enhance the facilities and student experience at Ulster University’s Derry~Londonderry campus. Our competition-winning design, which follows Passivhaus principles, complements the historic character of the 19th-century campus while supporting future-focused learning and cross-border collaboration.
The flagship facility includes flexible lecture and seminar spaces, computer labs, on-campus student services, and more across three interconnected pavilions, with a variety of social learning spaces throughout that act as key student interaction touchpoints. We set the pavilions around a garden courtyard with landscaped terraces, creating a secluded setting that nods to the historic parkland of the site. The building’s massing also references local heritage, with an emphasis on verticality that echoes the towers and gables in the neighbouring Magee Conservation Area.
The building’s dynamic form, coupled with its location along the western edge of the campus, will create a vibrant new front door for the university, while a bridge link to the adjacent library will enhance connections to this important campus asset. Our scope also includes an interiors concept featuring exposed steelwork that celebrates the building’s engineering, alongside natural materials such as cork and timber that bring a tactile comfort. A layered colour palette of terracotta and shades of green, informed by spatial psychology research, also creates a warm, inviting environment that’s unique within the university’s portfolio.
Make led the design vision, overseeing RIBA Stages 1–3, with McAdam Design acting as the Integrated Consultant Team Lead and was responsible for technical design.
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