• CP: "Look, what you are doing is all wrong — you are just putting up a few monuments to a medieval sense of learning. Why don't you really think about what education is about, what learning is about? How people access it?"
• LK: "If you are so clever, why don't you do it?"
• CP: "I bloody well will, then."
• (Stephen Mullin, describing the start of the Thinkbelt programme) [1]

• "COMMENT
• All that remains is to build the thing ... and to thank Lord Kennet for annoying me sufficiently constructively for me to start this in the first place."
• (Cedric Price, 'Housing', AD/1/72, p.41) [2]

• Scrapbook page containing the CP BIBLIOGRAPHY dated 9.4.76 [3]

[edit] FOREWORD

On 10 January 1978, Cedric Price (CP) met Norman Fellows (NF) at 38 Alfred Place to discuss anticipatory design and instances of it. [4]

(The CP PUBLICATIONS listed in the CP BIBLIOGRAPHY on the scrapbook page (left) provided a useful starting point.)

CP gave NF a copy of the AA Social Institutions Bibliography 1978. [5]

• Scrapbook page containing the INTRODUCTION dated February 1966 [6]

[edit] INTRODUCTION

The first thing is the title: 'The shadow institution'.

This term was coined by Norman Fellows in an exchange with Cedric Price in the follow-up meeting at the AA Graduate School on 14 December 1978:—

• NF: "I think it's already here."
• CP: "What is?"
• NF: "The shadow institution."
• CP: [Non-verbal response signifying agreement].
• (Meeting notes) [7]

• (Study notes) [8]

Thus this article assumes:—

• ... that "institutions" and "non-institutions" are complementary classes.

• "...the “Ford of Britain.” philanthropic Lord Nuffield, whose little Morris cars are omnipresent doodlebugs of the British road, marched out of the Air Ministry and stirred up the most public sort of scandal by announcing that the engineering plans of its gentlemen happen to be all wrong."
• (TIME, 'GREAT BRITAIN: Shadow Scheme', 2 November 1936) [9]

• “Are we doing all we ought to anticipate by proper planning and arrangement the grave delays which were the feature of our almost fatal unpreparedness in 1914?”
• (Lord Weir, quoted in 'Democracy at a disadvantage? British rearmament, the shadow factory scheme and the coming of war, 1936-40') [10]

• 'Meir in the 1940s from the air'

• "(Lord Kennet) was responsible politically for new universities. I went on criticising them and complaining about new buildings in Cambridge, Brighton and Lancaster. [...] Kennet got fed up with these criticisms (about the entire British higher education system) and said 'Why don't you tell us what we should do?' That annoyed me so much that I decided to do something."
• (Cedric Price, 13 April 2000, quoted in Stanley Mathews, 2007) [19]

Notes

• "...the challenge from the Junior Government Minister, Lord Kennet to explain an alternative to the then popular 'new' universities (early sixties) produced the Potteries Thinkbelt..."
• (Cedric Price, 1984, 'Works II') [20]

• Cambridge University, New Hall, aerial view of model

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Notes

• "The first buildings of the college on Huntingdon Road were designed by the architects, Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, and are listed Grade II."
• (Wikipedia, 'Buildings', College page)

• "Cedric used to quip that such buildings were containers dressed up to look like a medieval college, but with power points.
• [...]
• In some ways it was reinforcing the vision by subtle adjustments - rather than by challenging tradition and convention."
• (Jeremy Melvin) [21]

nb New Hall, Cambridge, is not a 'campus university'.

• Keele University, aerial view of campus

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Notes

• "Located in North Staffordshire, Keele's campus is rural with many 19th-century architectural features such as Keele Hall predating the concrete and red-brick buildings of the modern university. The campus occupies a 625-acre (253-hectare) rural campus close to the village of Keele and consists of extensive woods, lakes and Keele Hall set in Staffordshire Potteries."
• (Wikipedia, 'Campus', KU page)

nb Keele University is not a plate-glass university but, according to its page on Wikipedia, "is the largest campus university in the UK.

• University of East Anglia, aerial view of campus

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Notes

• "In 1961, the first vice-chancellor, Frank Thistlethwaite, had approached architect Denys Lasdun, an adherent of the "New Brutalist" trend in architecture [...] to produce designs for the permanent campus. The site chosen was on the western edge of the city..."
• (Wikipedia, '1960s', UEA page)

• "Accommodation blocks on the campus include Constable Terrace, Nelson Court, with Britten, Paston, Colman, Victory, Kett and Browne Houses, in addition to the University Village. The residences are named after Horatio Nelson, John Constable, Benjamin Britten, Jeremiah Colman, Nelson's ship HMS Victory, Robert Kett, Sir Thomas Browne and the Paston family (authors of the Paston Letters)."
• (Wikipedia, 'Campus', UEA page)

• University of Essex, aerial view of campus

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Notes

• "With its concrete architecture, the university is typical of England's 1960s universities and was heavily influenced by the international Brutalist architecture movement. Due to its particular form of architecture involving the use of prefabricated concrete and glass, the university is also referred to as a plateglass university.
• The architect of the campus, Kenneth Capon of the Architects' Co-Partnership, took the Tuscan town of San Gimignano with its squares and towers as an inspiration (the university has six residential towers mainly for undergraduates, but the original plan was to build 29)."
• (Wikipedia, 'Colchester campus and architecture', UE page)

"The University of Essex is one of the seven original plate glass universities established between 1961 and 1965."

• University of Kent, aerial view of campus

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Notes

• The university has three campuses, namely:—

1. Canterbury campus
2. Medway campus
3. Tonbridge campus

(Wikipedia, 'Campuses', UKC page)

• "The main Canterbury campus covers 300 acres (120 hectares) and is situated in parkland in an elevated position just over two miles (three kilometres) from the city centre, with views over the city and Canterbury Cathedral UNESCO world heritage site. The campus currently has approximately 12,000 full-time and 6,200 part-time students, with accommodation for over 5000, in addition to 600 academic and research staff."
• (ib.)

• Lancaster University, aerial view of campus

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Notes

• "The purpose-built campus occupies Bailrigg, a 360-acre (0.563 sq mi; 1.457 km2) site donated by Lancaster City Council in 1963. The campus buildings are located on a hilltop, the lower slopes of which are landscaped parkland which includes Lake Carter duck pond and the university sports fields. The lake was created in the early 1900s and was later named Lake Carter after Charles Carter, the first Vice Chancellor of the university. The site is three miles (5 km) south of the city centre. Construction of the Bailrigg campus began in November 1965, with the first building completed a year later. The first on-campus student residences opened in 1968."
• (Wikipedia, 'Campus', LU page)

• "The architects Peter Shepherd and Gabriel Epstein designed the university and its buildings so that they would absorb as much natural light as possible."
• (Lancaster University, 'Campus construction')

• University of Sussex, plan of campus

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Notes

• "The campus, designed by Sir Basil Spence, is next to the village of Falmer but mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. It is close to the South Downs, which influenced Spence's design of the campus. In 1959, the Basil Spence and Partners company began planning and designing the campus, to be built over a 15-year period. In 1971, 17 buildings had been designed and built winning numerous awards including a medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects and a Civic Trust award. Spence expressed his awe at the beauty of the surrounding region and designed the campus as a stream of low buildings so as not to disturb the natural scenery around. Brick was chosen throughout as it was the dominant material used across Sussex. As the campus developed, Spence connected the buildings by a series of 'green, interlocking courtyards that he felt created a sense of enclosure'."
• (Wikipedia, 'Campus', US page)

• University of Warwick, aerial view of campus

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Notes

• "Warwick is located on the outskirts of Coventry, 3.4 mi (5.5 km) southwest of the city centre and not in the town of Warwick as its name suggests. The university's main site comprises three contiguous campuses...
• [...]
• The main Warwick campus occupies 710 acres (2.88 km2) between the City of Coventry and the County of Warwickshire. The original buildings of the campus are in contemporary 1960s architecture."
• (Wikipedia, 'Campus', UW page)

• University of York, aerial view of campus

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Notes

• "In 1964, work began on the campus facilities in the grounds of Heslington Hall. The marshy land was drained, the winding lake that dominates the campus was built, and the area was landscaped. The original buildings were designed by architects Sir Andrew Derbyshire and Sir Stirrat Johnson-Marshall, with input also from the Vice-Chancellor Lord James, Professor Patrick Nuttgens and the Registrar, John West-Taylor. The new structures were assembled using the CLASP system of prefabricated construction, hence York's inclusion among the so-called plate glass universities."
• (Wikipedia, 'Campus', UY page)

As noted above:—

• "...the challenge from the Junior Government Minister, Lord Kennet to explain an alternative to the then popular 'new' universities (early sixties) produced the Potteries Thinkbelt to take advantage of local unemployment, a stagnant local housing programme, a redundant rail network, vast areas of unused, unstable land, consisting mainly of old coal-working and clay pits, and a national need for scientists and engineers."
• (Cedric Price, 1984, 'Works II', ib. - see [20])

Notes

Cedric Price proposed a solution, namely:—

• "POTTERIES THINK BELT: A plan for the establishment of a major advanced educational industry in North Staffordshire".
• (Cedric Price, 1966) [23] [24] [25]

See also:—

• Cedric Price (1966) 'Potteries Thinkbelt', New Society, 2 June. [26]
• Cedric Price, 'PTb', Architectural Design', October, 1966. [27]

• Map of the PTb showing main routes, transfer, faculty and housing areas - Image courtesy of CCA

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Notes

1. Norman Fellows (31 March 2023) 'Potteries Thinkbelt'
2. Norman Fellows (8 June 2024) 'Potteries Thinkbelt study'
3. Norman Fellows (1 August 2024) 'Potteries Thinkbelt study: Further ongoing research'

• Meir Transfer Area, draft layout, plan, section

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Notes

• "A road-PTb rail-air link providing facilities for rapid exchange of personnel or lightweight goods from PTb to national or international networks.
• Work accommodation for students and staff (single floor) leading directly to rail-based laboratory and servicing gantries travelling over and providing access to a zone reserved for short-term portable enclosures.
• Provision is made for banking the gantries for linked use. High-level partial enclosure can be created between gantries. A monorail goods feed joins the two blocks to an inspection, storage and customs hall connected both to the accommodation block and the road/rail link."
• (Cedric Price, 'PTb', AD/10/66, p.487)

See Norman Fellows (2024) 'The Thinkbelt study published in Architectural Design' in 'Potteries Thinkbelt study'.

• Pitts Hill Transfer Area, axonometric view

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Notes

• "A national rail-PTb rail- road link providing facilities for rapid and continuous bulk goods and personnel exchange. Valley sited vertical and horizontal communication for goods and people offers conditions for the large-scale installation of experimental plant, etc.
• A serviced plant pit adjoins an open floor area for small temporary enclosures which is covered by a serviced accommodation deck containing living and working cells, and is the equivalent in its operation to the large static gantry installed at Meir.
• The accommodation would be for those involved in continuous processes being undertaken in the transfer complex."
• (ib., p.488)

See Norman Fellows (2024) 'The Thinkbelt study published in Architectural Design' in 'Potteries Thinkbelt study'.

• Madeley Transfer Area, axonometric view

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Notes

• "A motorway-PTb rail-road link providing facilities for handling, assembly and construction of large-scale goods and equipment. Two workshop zones with adjustable high-level servicing and access are adjacent to conventional work areas capable of cellular variation which in turn adjoins reception, public and amenities areas.
• Rising from the latter are the accommodationtowers, These provide minimal hotel accommodation and are likely to be used by short- and medium-term visiting staff."
• (ib., p.489)

See Norman Fellows (2024) 'The Thinkbelt study published in Architectural Design' in 'Potteries Thinkbelt study'.

"The Potteries Thinkbelt was a higher educational facility, a term carefully chosen to avoid the use of the word university. Prepared at a time when the largest new university programme in British history was being implemented, the project addressed an intellectually complacent university-regulating bureaucracy. The site for the Thinkbelt was not a city site, nor one of the then standard out-of-town, isolated, quasi-countryside locations which had been selected especially because of their lower land values. Instead, Price chose a hundred square miles in a decaying industrial area of England in north Staffordshire, once the centre of the famed Staffordshire Potteries and now in dire need of revitalization.

Thus he was to produce a project which questioned most of the cherished Establishment premises of university education, and substituted, in their place, their complete inversion.

Instead of the centralized campus, Price proposed the network. His arguments against centrality were many: it leads to self-congestion and disallows expansion, it promotes physical and intellectual isolation (hardly desirable in an institute of higher learning), and it suffers from inaccessibility. A network, on the other hand, would be indeterminate, flexible and extendible, allowing the educational facilities to spread over and integrate into the area of the Potteries. This process of integration was expected not only to generate major economic benefits to the whole area but also to offer support and stimulation even for those not directly attached to the institution.

But Price was also demanding acknowledgement of the theme of impermanence. The Potteries Thinkbelt was located in an industrial region of Britain and, appropriately, would house, predominantly, departments of science and technology, fast-changing subjects whose scope, size and life-span would be impossible to determine except in the short term. So Price's criteria for siting departments included specific and speculative needs and predictable life-spans, as well as locational possibilities for integrative development. These included a programme for joint library facilities with local residents and a system for student housing which amalgamated both Thinkbelt and local housing rosters, and which also permitted some experimentation in short-term habitation to take place.

The Potteries Thinkbelt conceptualizations were brought together by the ingenious use of a transportation technology which had existed on this site for a hundred years, during which time it had served both industrial and passenger use and, in Price's project, was to do so again.

The railway system had become surplus to national railway needs but, given a new set of demands upon it, it could facilitate connecting links throughout the network and provide usable land adjacent to derelict rail sidings, which Price saw as offering potential for the development of interlinking educational facilities.

Price was to explore the range of possibilities for rail-borne facilities in great detail. The fast-changing industrial engineering departments requiring cranes and gantries for replacing equipment were obvious candidates, but he was also to propose teaching units in a large variety of mobile enclosures which included combinations of inflatable lecture theatres, foldout decks, library and information carrels and units, and a series of capsule facilities, all with capabilities for combination and permutation and all able to be demounted and transferred as required. But concern with mobility did not end here. There were other systems of road linkages, interchange transfer areas between modes of transport,and an airport link.

The story of the Potteries Thinkbelt is salutary. As a brilliantly imaginative contribution to university building, a realm not known for its thoughtfulness, the Potteries Thinkbelt might just have jostled the University Establishment, but perhaps the critique had too much fantasy for its audience. Or could it be that Cedric Price, to use one of his phrases, was just 'aiming to miss'? For me, it does not 'miss' if this study goes into the archive, not as an example of how railway carriages can be used for teaching, but as one of the most powerful question marks ever placed against the architecture of university education."

(Royston Landau, 1984, 'A Philosophy of Enabling', AA Files/8, pp.5-7) [29]

• Maps comparing the distribution of shadow factories under the Shadow scheme (left) [32] with the finite location of the Potteries Thinkbelt (right) [33]

n.b. Inset: 'Map of the PTb' (top right) showing main routes, transfer, faculty and housing areas—Reproduced from GitHub - click here. [34]

The large size of the buildings is indicated on Wikipedia.

• "The buildings were sheds up to 2,000 feet (610 m) long lit either by glazed roofs or "north-lit". Office accommodation was brick, and wherever possible faced a main road. These buildings were extremely adaptable and would remain part of the British industrial landscape for more than 50 years. One of the largest was Austin's Cofton Hackett, beside their Longbridge plant, started in August 1936. 1,530 feet (470 m) long and 410 feet (120 m) wide, the structure covered 20 acres (81,000 m2). Later a 15 acres (61,000 m2) airframe factory was added, then a flight shed 500 feet (150 m) by 190 feet (58 m) was attached to the airframe factory.
• The new factory buildings were models of efficient factory layout. They had wide, clear gangways and good lighting, and they were free of shafting and belt drives."
• (Wikipedia)

• Aerial view of shadow factories in Coventry - clockwise from Stoke Aldemoor Lane (top right), to Ryton, Browns Lane and Canley-Fletchamstead Hy.

Notes [35]

1. The Meir Transfer Area linked the Thinkbelt network to an airfield, "providing facilities for rapid exchange of personnel or lightweight goods from PTb to national or international networks". A third smaller than Pitts Hill, Meir included approximately 566,337 cubic metres of variable, flexible space and 33,445 square metres for fixed and dedicated uses. Goods and mobile teaching would be handled by three types of cranes: portal, monorail, and mobile (road-based) cranes, as well as by forklifts. These cranes also serviced the 1,115 square metres of single-floor living accommodations for students and staff, providing easy access across movable bridges and gantries to mobile rail-based laboratory units and other portable enclosures.
2. Price envisioned the Transfer Area a t Pitts Hill as a connectionbetween the PTb and the national British Railways system. PittsHill provided facilities for "rapid and continuous bulk goods andpersonnel exchange". These would contain some 877,822 cubic metres of flexible space, with just less than 27,870 square metres of dedicated space for fixed equipment. Pitts Hill was also to be equipped with a single portal crane as well as two 'travelator' conveyor belt systems for moving freight and people. There were to be no living accommodations at Pitts Hill, because of noise from the main line rail connection.
3. Madeley was the largest of the Transfer Areas. Price designed the area to permit easy linkage between the internal Thinkbelt rail and road systems and the national M6 motorway, and to provide"facilities for handling, assembly and construction of large scalegoods and equipment". There were to be two enormous enclosed workshops where the various types of mobile teaching and living modules used in the Thinkbelt could be built and maintained. Next to these huge service bays would be a series of modular offices and workspaces, similar to those Price would later design for his 1977 Inter-Action Centre in London. The Madeley TransferArea comprised nearly 1,360,000 cubic metres of flexible space,reserving 46,450 square metres for static functions, such as storage and mechanical systems. Rising above the Madeley Transfer Area would be several towers containing more than 9,290 square metres of 'hotel' type accommodation for "short and medium term visiting staff" 6 The PTb rail system extended a mile beyond Madeley into an area reserved for future housing expansion.