The Hicks Building (named in honour of William Mitchinson Hicks, first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield) was part of the teaching building of the campus of University of Sheffield and finished its completion in 1962-3. William Hicks (1850-1934), the distinguished British academic and scholar well-known for his achievement and contribution to the knowledge of mathematics and physics, is an indispensable figure in the establishment and founding of the University of Sheffield. Today, the Hicks Building houses the Departments of Physics and Astronomy and the School of Mathematics and Statistics, providing spaces for delivering lectures, workshops, observatory areas and laboratories. On the top and lower roof of the building, there is a pair of remotely accessible telescopes available to astronomy students. Having an exterior view of the Hicks Building as a whole, the overall architectural style design emphasises a sense of discipline, simplicity and practicality. Zooming in and viewing it separately, the Hicks Building consists of three sections linked together: the main building, clad in red-brick mainly, with both opaque and transparent glass; the lower section of the building, which faces the Students’ Union is clad in flat white concrete with irregularly arranged glass windows; the shortest building, clad in blue tiles to the other side of the main building. With no signs of superfluous ornamentation, the horizontal and vertical contours of the building are clear and neat, which follows and demonstrates the modernist architectural design concepts of the Modern Movement in the 1930s to the early 1960s in Britain.
It is not uncommon for the Hicks Building to be regarded as being eclipsed by the other iconic and modern university buildings; it is also unclear from the exterior what departments the building is used for teaching purposes. However, the cylindrical structure with a coloured laminate surface of the intergalactic universe, which can be seen as soon as you enter, gives visitors the most intuitive impressions and answers. Although the building is equipped with modern facilities and instruments in keeping with the teaching purpose, the modernist design style is maintained as original, and some materials have been retained. More specifically, the staircase handrail retains its simple wooden structure and is repainted black; and the staircase section is basically kept in three shades of black, white and grey. The wooden desks and display cabinets are still used. Overall, the industrial style and sense of design and disciplinary elements add to the building a strong academic atmosphere. At the same time, a blend of historical, modernist and futuristic design is presented.
Words and Photos: Qianqian Liu