02/12/2019
Photos from the official opening day, and a nosey around the new Audley Buildings - ex President, College and Pillar Halls & gardens. These have been converted into Audley Cooper's Hill - a luxury retirement community.
The rest of the campus is owned by other developers, and have new buildings sprouting up - large detached townhouses, smaller more affordable housing and new modern student accommodation blocks for Royal Holloway. Together, all of these development schemes are known as Magna Carta Park.
Nothing remains of the old accommodation blocks, workshops or refectory hall - all cleared to make way for the new. The area previously covered by Bradley and Marshall Halls, has been cleared to create even more open parkland. The sunken garden has been given a makeover, and generally the gardens all opened up and tidied.
As far as Audley Cooper's Hill is concerned, the restoration of the old buildings has been very thorough. Comprehensively cleaned, and stonework repaired / replaced - lovely to see the buildings gleaming and almost as they must have looked when newly built.
Internally, things are less recognisable. Most of the original layout has been vastly altered and changed. Our access was limited to the ground floor of President, and parts of Pillar Hall, as the (new) apartments on the floors above were already sold, and some even occupied!
