The Fry Building of the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

built in 1909 by

Sir George Oatley Sir George Herbert Oatley (3 January 1863 – 12 May 1950) was an English architect noted for his work in Bristol, especially the gothic Wills Memorial Building. He was knighted for public service in 1925. Early life Oatley was born in Bristo ...

. In September 2019, staff and postgraduate students moved into the refurbished building ahead of the start of term.

History

The building is named for the Fry family who donated land and funds to the university at its founding in 1909, when Lewis Fry was Chairman of the College Council. The Fry family was prominent in England, especially

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, in the Society of Friends, and as J. S. Fry & Sons in the confectionery business in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. They intermarried with many of the other prominent Quaker families and were involved in business and social and philanthropic causes. The original section of the building was constructed in 1880, designed by architect

Charles Francis Hansom Charles Francis Hansom (27 July 1817 – 30 November 1888) was a prominent Roman Catholic Victorian architect who primarily designed in the Gothic Revival style. Career He was born of a Roman Catholic family in York. He was the brother of Jose ...

. In 1909

was appointed to design a new university department for Chemistry and Physiology, further extending the Fry Building to the southwest. The building was used for the School of Biological Sciences until 2014. On 6 January 2018, while £33 million building work was underway to convert it into a new mathematics department, the building caught fire.

Avon Fire and Rescue Service Avon Fire & Rescue Service (AF&RS) is the fire and rescue service covering the unitary authorities of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire in South West England. The headquarters of the service is co ...

responded with a

turntable ladder A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an ...

and multiple

fire engine A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an ...

s. A helicopter was used to illuminate the area. The cause of fire was investigated and labelled accidental by the fire and rescue service. Staff and students of the School of Mathematics moved into the building in September 2019.

Architecture

The majority of the building is Grade II listed and constructed of

pennant stone The Pennant Measures is the traditional name for a sequence of sedimentary rocks of the South Wales Coalfield. They were also referred to as the Upper Coal Measures and assigned to the Westphalian 'C' and Westphalian 'D' stages of the Carbonifer ...

with limestone dressings and slate roof. The exterior is "architecturally ornate", including lead light windows and a decorative castellated parapet.

Public art

Public art in the form of a

Voronoi pattern In mathematics, a Voronoi diagram is a partition of a plane into regions close to each of a given set of objects. In the simplest case, these objects are just finitely many points in the plane (called seeds, sites, or generators). For each seed ...

acts as a brise soleil on the new glass facade overlooking Wills Memorial Building. This screen encloses what were originally external walls. Outside, the design of the paving layout draws on the work of the Nobel Prize-winning Bristol-born mathematician

Paul Dirac Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac (; 8 August 1902 – 20 October 1984) was an English theoretical physicist who is regarded as one of the most significant physicists of the 20th century. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the Univer ...

(1902–1984).

Dirac notation Distributed Research using Advanced Computing (DiRAC) is an integrated supercomputing facility used for research in particle physics, astronomy and cosmology in the United Kingdom. DiRAC makes use of multi-core processors and provides a variety of ...

is also present as a pattern on the internal glazing throughout the building.

References

{{University of Bristol, state=expanded University of Bristol 2018 fires in the United Kingdom Grade II listed buildings in Bristol School buildings completed in 1909 1909 establishments in England