New Court “Typewriter”, Christ’s College Cambridge – Miniature Concrete Model

Model 074_New Court “Typewriter”, Christ’s College Cambridge – Miniature Concrete Model
Hand-cast in fine concrete. Shaped by memory.

Some buildings feel like they are machines.
New Court at Christ’s College, Cambridge is one of them.

Terraced, stepped and unmistakably modern, this Brutalist student accommodation by Sir Denys Lasdun unfolds behind the historic courts of Christ’s like a concrete landscape. Built between 1966 and 1970, it houses undergraduates and common rooms, climbing in tight layers of rooms, balconies and planted terraces.

Known affectionately, and sometimes critically, as “The Typewriter”, the building faces the city with a plain brick frontage, while its dramatic tiered concrete form is tucked inside the college, all decks, ramps and crisp white balustrades. It is a machine-like, carefully choreographed world of student rooms and walkways, a vivid counterpoint to the medieval courts nearby.

I was drawn to New Court for that tension between quiet, almost hidden location and bold, cinematic form. Modelling it meant working through the way each terrace steps back, how the service towers punctuate the roofline, and how the decks read as continuous lines when seen in profile. I spent a long time refining the digital massing so that the finished cast holds the same sense of rhythm and forward motion that you feel walking along those external corridors.

A small piece of one of Cambridge’s most debated and beloved Brutalist courts.

Features
• Solid cast concrete, individually hand-poured
• Xcm high, Xcm wide, Xcm deep (approx)
• Laser-etched cork base with building name
• Comes gift-boxed for the perfect concrete gift
• Designed, modelled, and finished in the UK

This model is for anyone who has crossed those terraces to supervisions, leaned on the railings between exams, or fallen for Lasdun’s layered concrete in Cambridge. It sits easily on a shelf, desk or studio table and brings a fragment of Christ’s College into everyday life, as a reminder of a formative time and place.

15% off when you order two or more models

EU customers: please order via my Etsy shop due to customs regulations

Building Information

Location: New Court, Christ’s College, Cambridge, UK
Architect: Sir Denys Lasdun & Partners
Completed: 1966–1970
Status: In use as undergraduate accommodation and social spaces
Brief Overview:
New Court was designed as a major expansion of Christ’s College, providing 66 student bedrooms, fellows’ apartments and shared facilities arranged on a series of stepped concrete terraces. Its tiered form and projecting study bays earned it the nickname “The Typewriter”, while its internal courts, decks and planted platforms create a self-contained world within the college. Regarded by some critics as an “arrogant intrusion” and by others as a superb example of late modern student housing, it remains one of Lasdun’s most distinctive Brutalist works in Cambridge.

Please note:

ALL EU ORDERS processed through our Etsy Store HERE

My concrete sculptures are individually hand cast in solid concrete. This means that each piece will have distinctive markings and minor blemishes due to air bubbles in the concrete. This is a natural part of the material and will mean that no two pieces are ever exactly the same.

Shipping:
I aim to make and ship your artwork within 30 days. If you require your order by a specific date before this please let me know.

Express shipping options at checkout for additional costs