University architecture showcased

The Wills Memorial Building has loomed over Park Street since 1925

An exhibition celebrating Bristol's university buildings opens this week.

Some of the city's most impressive and beautiful architecture was commissioned by the uni, which is 100 this year.

The show, at Bristol's Architecture Centre, includes photographs, film, models and text exploring the buildings and their grounds.

Some university property - like Clifton Hill House (1746) and Royal Fort House (1758-61) - dates back to the 18th Century.

In the last decade, the institution commissioned the Synthetic Chemistry Building (1999) and, most recently, the Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information (2009).

Gothic landmark

In the first half of the 20th Century, funded by the Wills family, the university commissioned many works by Sir George Oatley, including the gothic landmark which towers over Park Street, the Wills Memorial Building (1925).

Other important Bristol buildings, such as the Victoria Rooms (1838-42), and the former Baptist College (1912-19) have been given to or bought by the university.

The institution has also sold property: its former refectory on Queens Road is now Browns restaurant and University College, which was on Park Row, is now the site of the Panoramic flats.

A film which accompanies the exhibition will chart key events in the University's architectural history, from King George V and Queen Mary opening the Wills Memorial Building in 1925, to Harry Patch switching on the lights to illuminate the same building in 2008.

The exhibition runs at the Architecture Centre, on Narrow Quay beside the Arnolfini, until the end of August, 2009.

It is open from 11am to 5pm Tuesday-Friday, 12pm to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday and closed on Mondays.