University of Bangor Arts and Innovation Centre   Bangor, UK

Forming a link between Bangor University and the city itself, this 10,750 sq m Arts and Innovation Centre is a significant addition to the cultural life of Bangor, offering state-of-the-art facilities to students and residents alike.

Known as Pontio, the Welsh verb meaning ‘to bridge’, the building’s physical form steps down the steep site from the Grade I listed Bangor Cathedral nearby and Main Arts Building above, to the 1920s Memorial Arch, bringing together the two halves of the university campus.

Surrounded by the leafy College Park, the building includes a performing arts auditorium for local and touring companies, a cinema, rehearsal studio and an experimental ‘haptic’ environment. Alongside these publicly accessible spaces is a hub for innovation, a large lecture theatre, four teaching spaces and open planned areas for socialising and informal learning.

Each space within the building is united by a day-lit circulation space. This space provides clear natural way-finding that visually and physically links all communities of users within the building.

Location
Bangor, UK

Project Type
Education →

Client
Bangor University

Area
10,750 sq m

Status
Complete

Year
2016

Photography
Gyuri Szabo, Keith Morris