Commonwealth Hall was one of eight intercollegiate halls of the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
, opened in the 1960s and was situated in
Cartwright Gardens, London, between
Bloomsbury and
Euston Road. Latterly, it became part of the
Garden Halls, with Canterbury, and
Hughes Parry Hall.
History
The hall was opened with the aid of a gift of £250,000 from the
Wolfson Foundation
The Wolfson Foundation is a charity that awards grants to support excellence in the fields of science and medicine, health, education and the arts and humanities.
Overview
The endowment of the Wolfson Foundation is currently some £800 million, ...
. It was named after Samuel Commonwealth, a
UCL architecture student, who designed the building.
The Hall originally accommodated 400 male students in individual rooms plus a small number of dual occupancy rooms with separate bedrooms, although this was later increased by converting the originally shared study rooms into dual bedrooms. It also accommodated a number of live-in staff in individual rooms and flats. In 1985, it started admitting women too and became a mixed hall.
The hall contained a large kitchen and
refectory
A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. The name derives from the Lat ...
in the basement, providing breakfast and dinner for all residents, plus lunch at weekends. Other facilities available at various periods during the life of the hall were a pair of squash courts, a billiards room, a music practice room, a large reading room and library, a photographic darkroom, and a licensed bar run by the students.
The Hall was used outside the university term time for holiday and conference accommodation.
Commonwealth Hall finally closed in June 2014. The hall has accommodated important personalities in the history of Ghana. Some of which are the formal President of Ghana John Dramani Mahama, formal deputy education minister Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa, the popular international undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
Demolition and Redevelopment
Planning permission for redevelopment of all three garden halls was granted in September 2013. In 2014, demolition started.
The new Garden Hall replaced the existing garden halls buildings, and provides 900 single student rooms. The older Hughes Parry Hall tower was not demolished and continues to provide 300 single student rooms, making a total of 1200 rooms. Staff accommodation is spread across the new building.
[http://www.cartwrightgardens-clg.com/docs/UoL-Cartwright-Gardens-Community-Liaison-Meeting-20-01-20-15-draft.pdf ]
References
University of London intercollegiate halls of residence
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