About this project
This is a panoramic photographic tour of what used to be Shoreditch Training College, and subsequently Brunel University's Design and Education Campus in Englefield Green, Surrey.
After a long and varied history over the years, the campus was sold by Brunel and a major re-development of the site is imminent. This photographic archive is for the benefit of all the student alumni and staff over the years who attended, lived or worked on campus - to allow them to re-visit this wholly unique place.
The Campus is situated on Cooper's Hill on the slopes above the River Thames at Runnymede in Surrey. On a fine day it's possible to see parts of Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, and West London from various vantage points on the Campus. Windsor Castle and the Thames are clearly seen from the site, and close by is the John F. Kennedy Memorial, the Magna Carta memorial and the Air Forces Memorial.
Visit the explore section and choose a part of the campus you'd like to visit from the map provided. There are almost 200 different viewpoints to choose from, covering just about all of the campus, so you may have to scroll around the map to find them all. If you're having trouble viewing please read the help page.
Each of the viewpoints is derived from 8 photographs taken with a special photographic tripod mount. Six horizontally aligned photos capture a 360 degree horizontal view, and a skyward-facing and downward-facing shot complete the set to create a complete capture. A fisheye lens is used to provide plenty of overlap in each of the photograph, and special software is used to 'stitch' the photographs together to form each viewpoint.
A partial equipment list:
- Nikon D300S Digital SLR Camera
- Nikon 10.5mm DX Fisheye Lens
- Manfrotto 190XPROB Tripod
- Manfrotto 468MGRC2 Hydrostatic Ball Head
- Nikon Ml-3 Remote Control Set
- 360 Precision Absolute Panoramic Head
- AutoPano Pro Stitching Software
- Pano2VR QTVR Software
- Adobe CS5 Photoshop
Tom Hostler is a Brunel Alumni who who studied Industrial Design. He finds it uncomfortable writing about himself in 3rd person but for the sake of this 'about' section will struggle on!
Tom lived on-campus between 1989 and 1993 for an almost unbroken 4 year stretch, which greatly endeared the campus to Tom. For that time, it was as much home and it was study - proof that work and play could be combined with bedrooms doubling for workshops, toilets for spray booths and kitchens as nightclubs. Lifelong friendships were made - united by this common experience in this wholly unique setting.
Following the campus' closure, a number of open days were organised by John Williams of the excellent Shoreditch College website with (the then owners) the Oracle Group to allow alumni to attend, see the campus one last time and say their farewells. Tom was lucky enough to attend one of these in 2008, and on meeting many of the older Shoreditch alumni, some of whom had travelled great distances, he realised juts how many other people had been touched by this unassuming place. As it faced demolision, he hatched a plan to create a permanent archive of the campus to allow anyone to visit it again.
He also photographed the insides of the buildings, including some of the more hidden areas, like the President Hall cellars, inside the Clock Tower and the College Hall attics. As time allows, he hopes to expand the available areas for viewing to include tours of the buildings. Keep an eye on the site news section for details of progress.
If you want to get in touch, please use the contact form.