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Willoughby Hall
Having set up a competition for architects to submit their designs for a new hall of residence for women to be built on the Lenton Fields site, by May 1950 the University received fifty-nine submissions. An award of £1,000 was presented to the winners of the competition who were two young Durham University architecture lecturers named Turley and Williamson. Having decided on the winning scheme the University did not act on it for more than ten years. By that time the winning architectural team had become Williamson, Faulkner Brown and Partners based in Newcastle. Work on the new hall was effectively finished in January 1964. The 150 women students it was designed to accommodate were able to move in during the Spring term. The name chosen for the hall of residence - 'Willoughby' - referred to the famous Nottingham family with centuries-long associations with nearby Wollaton Hall.
Willoughby Hall transitioned into mixed-sex accommodation in 1970 by way of an experimental change. The experiment was considered a success and the ensuing years have seen other halls of residence follow its lead and offer mixed-sex accommodation.
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Aerial View of Willoughby Hall - 2022 |
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This newspaper cutting is from an unspecified 1962 newspaper and reports on the halls at the university currently under construction. The original can be found in the Manuscripts and Special Collections of the University of Nottingham. Click here to see the original copy. |
A feature taken from the January 1964 edition of the student newspaper Gongster which reviews the recently completed hall of residence. Our student reporter congratulates the architect on what he or she thinks is probably 'the best designed exterior on the campus.' Having said that we learn that the individual student rooms are the smallest to be found on campus. Other criticisms follow ... |
A view of Willoughby Hall from the south-east taken in February 1964. The original image is to be found on the Historic England website - click here to be taken to the original photograph. |
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Taken in 1964 this image shows the building soon after it had opened as a hall of residence. The original image is to be found on Manuscripts and Special Collections website of the University of Nottingham. The sports car seen parked in the photograph is a Triumph TR4 which was produced by the Triumph Motor Company between 1961 and 1965. As it was a fairly new vehicle it is unlikely to have been owned by an undergraduate so we must presume it belonged at the time to a member of staff.Click here to be taken to that photograph. |
Another image taken from the Historic England website showing the exterior of Willoughby Hall of Residence. The original photograph taken in February 1964 can be accessed by clicking here. |
Taken in 1973 the stark features of the building have been softened by the vegetation which has had almost ten years in which grow. The original of this photograph can be seen on Manuscripts and Special Collections website of the University of Nottingham. Click here to see it. |
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Taken by Andrew Abbott in March 2020 we offer this as more recent image of Willoughby Hall. The original image can be viewed by clicking here which takes you to the geograph website |
Our final image, which is undated, is taken from the Nirvana website. Click here to be taken to that particular page which also offers a couple of current photographs of the interiors of individual student rooms. |
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Let us know your memories of Willoughby Hall
Do you have any historical information or other photographs of this hall? If so, email us with the details or write to us.