1732 King's College Gibbs Building

King's College Gibbs Building, East side

In 1712 the Provost of King's asked Wren for plans for the further development of the College. At the time the College buildings comprised the magnificent Chapel, and the small Old Court, now part of the University's Old Schools complex. The aging Wren suggested that Nicholas Hawksmoor, his amanuensis of many years and now a notable architect in his own right, be given the task.

Hawksmoor got a bit carried away with his task, and not only made proposals for the development of King's but also proposed redeveloping central Cambridge on a grand Baroque scale, which would have given the City a very different character. In the event, the West range of the proposed court (South of the Chapel) was the only part of the scheme that was proceded with. Hawksmoor's initial model for this building was rejected by the Provost. The Provost requested, and was given, the model of a plainer building with, for example, pilasters instead of the columns of the initial model.

In 1723, while work on his Senate House was under construction, James Gibbs was installed as the architect for the West range building. Gibbs modified Hawksmoors second design and also planned East and South ranges for the court. It is remarkably plain - partly due to a lack of funds, and partly because the South range was to be the centrepiece of the composition. Gibbs kept the size of the building, the number of windows and the central semicircular window as specified in Hawksmoors second model. However, the pilasters were removed from the design, and the large gateway is much plainer than Hawksmoor's. Although plain and classical for its time, it was not in the most fashionable neo-Palladianism taste, the projecting keystones above the windows illustrating Gibbs' Italian Baroque training.

[Thumbnail image of King's College, from Backs]
King's College, from Backs

By the beginning of 1729 it was ready for timberwork, and in April 1731 the wainscoting was ordered.

The Gibbs Buiding stands a deferential distance from the Chapel, which Gibbs admired. And the large grass court, and the lawn West of the Gibbs Building, both provide ample space to appreciate the graceful composition created by the two buildings.

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