West Kent College

K College (formerly West Kent College) is a 23.000m² redevelopment of West Kent Further Education College Tonbridge Campus. The facility was constructed on the existing West Kent College site whilst it remained operational. It was designed to be constructed in phases with first phase construction completed Summer 2010 and further phase to be completed Autumn 2011.

The College include Media Arts Centre with performance theatre for 500 persons, a commercial restaurant and kitchens, commercial gymnasium, hair & beauty, music rooms, learning and resources centre, various teaching and learning spaces and numerous other facilities. The overall development cost was circa £86m.

FF&E

Dyer were responsible for the design of the FF&E and Interiors, managing the installation together with Turner and Townsend. The design included a ‘Seasons’ concept which was designed to aid orientation and to add a sense of identity to each part of the building. The interior and exterior colour scheme was based on the concept of the changing seasons with each block being defined by a distinct seasonal colour range. This concept was taken through to the building fabric, to interior design and furniture proposals.

Furniture finishes and colours enhance the concept with static furniture such as desk top mounted partitions in staff offices specified in colours and tones according to which seasonal zone the room is in, mobile items such as classroom and office chairs are specified in colours which work with any seasonal colour or tone. Apart from the aesthetic benefit, this approach assists the facilities management strategy of the college by helping with flexibility in terms of ease of location of furniture due to similar/matching colours.