This is a panoramic photographic tour of the land and buildings that used to be Shoreditch Training College, and subsequently Brunel University’s Design and Education Campus in Englefield Green, Surrey.
Prior to these academic chapters, the campus has enjoyed a long and varied history over the years passing between many private and institutional owners.
The campus was sold by Brunel in 2004, and after a few false-starts, a major re-development of the site is near complete, that has seen much of the historic buildings demolished and the grounds re-shaped.
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 unique and special place, and remember it “as it once was”.
Where is (was?) the campus?
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 hill. Windsor Castle and the River 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.
What can I do here?
You can virtually wander around the grounds and look around the campus as it was in 2008. There are almost 200 different viewpoints to choose from, covering just about all of the campus. You can either jump from point to point from inside the scene, or navigate across campus using the embedded map. If you’re having trouble viewing please read the help page.
How was it put together?
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.
These viewpoints are then converted into panoramic ‘nodes’ and yet more special software used to link them together to form a virtual tour.
Who’s behind this? And why.
This tour and website was put together by Tom Hostler, a Brunel Alumni who who studied Industrial Design and lived on campus between 1989 and 1993.
Living on-campus for an almost unbroken 4 year stretch greatly endeared the campus to Tom. During his stay, it was as much a home as it was a place of study. Work and play were freqeuntly combined – with bedrooms doubling for workshops, toilets for spray booths and kitchens becoming makeshift nightclubs. Lifelong friendships were forged – all united by a common experience shared in this wholly unique setting.
Following the campus’ closure in 2004, a number of open days were organised by John Williams who publishes the Shoreditch College website 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 affected by the campus. As the campus faced demolition, a plan was hatched to create a permanent archive to record the campus and allow anyone to “visit” it in the future.
What’s next?
As well as photographing the grounds, Tom managed to capture the insides of many of the buildings too, 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. Watch this space!
Getting in touch
If you want to get in touch, please use the contact form.