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University's estate plans and drawings Collection

Explore the Archive

Plans and architectural drawings relating to the University and its precursor, the Royal College of Advanced Technology.

An overview

The collection captures some of the ideas and ambitions for the built environment of the University campus. They provide insight into how it changed and developed.

This serves as a record of the planning and development ambitions of a university campus in the mid-20th century. This was a time when tertiary education was expanding on a national scale.

Materials have been identified and digitised from archive collections held by the University of Salford and Salford City Council.

 

Drawings

The drawings date from a period of transition for the institution when it moved from being a College of Advanced Technology acquired in 1957, to gaining university status ten years later.

Some of the earliest drawings from 1952 are sketch plans and layouts for the new building of the Royal College of Advanced Technology. This building would later be named Maxwell.

There are two elevation drawings of the building:

  • one by G. Noel Hill, County Architect for Lancashire
  • a closer view from Windsor Crescent (the A6) dating from 1953.

 

Campus masterplans

Highlight of the collection are the several campus Masterplans from the 1960s. These provide a visual record of the ambitions for the institution.

The RCAT Master Plan (1964) suggests the intention was to replace both:

  • the old Royal Technical Institute building (now known as the Peel Building) built in 1896
  • Lark Hill Mansion which houses the Salford Museum and Art Gallery, dating from the early 19th century

These were to be replaced with a string of linked buildings fronting the A6.

The plans outline an overall footprint that's recognisable today albeit with elements and features that weren't realised.

 

Individual buildings

The following covers the University’s Central Library, built in 1971:

The Library was previously located (since 1957) in the Maxwell Building.

Similarly, there's a set of drawings for the Computer Centre Building dated 1976 by the architects W F Johnston and Partners. This was situated on the Meadow Road Campus. The drawings include:

The building came into use in 1977, and in 1989 was renamed Bridgewater Building. It's since been demolished.

In most cases the drawings have been detached intellectually and physically from other documentation such as correspondence and minutes which provide context.

A drawing of the proposed floral decoration in Peel Park fronting the old Royal Technical Institute building and Art Gallery is without explanation. Similarly, Student Halls of Residence drawings hint at the decorative details suggested for wall murals.

Various drawings and plans show infrastructure and services both above and below ground level, including:

The digitisation of this material was funded through the University of Salford's School of Engineering and Environment.

How can it be used?

  • To understand how buildings were designed during this period and the materials used in construction and finishing. 
  • To compliment the University of Salford's Photographic Archive, particularly the photos which show models of the campus Masterplans.

 

Who might be interested?

Students and researchers of:

  • architecture
  • construction
  • civil and structural engineering
  • history.

 

Type of material

  • Architectural plans and drawings.

 

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