Inspiring Spaces

Since 1448, Queens’ has continued to evolve and expand both physically and intellectually.

In the 21st century, our aim is to invest in an estate that is as sustainable, accessible, and as environmentally sensitive as possible.

The Governing Body has set key goals, including achieving a 50% reduction in the College’s net carbon footprint by 2030, with further reductions by 2045.

To do this, we must invest in our accommodation and student spaces.

OWLSTONE CROFT

LYON COURT

Owlstone Croft

Based in Newnham, Owlstone Croft was purchased in 1988, partly through a legacy gift.

Spaces that support people, learning, and belonging

We are now halfway through a radical two-year re-development to deliver 60 new student rooms in 13 terrace houses. All work will meet Passivhaus standards and the site will be fully accessible.

However, there is still work to be done. A minimum of £12m is still required to complete this transformational project.

Lyon Court

Named by the late Queen Mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon – former Patroness of Queens’ – and generous benefactor, Sir Humphrey Cripps, in 1992.

Thoughtfully designed spaces for wellbeing and community

An important part of the estate plan for the College campus is ensuring that our students have the spaces they need to thrive and reach their full potential, both academically and in the wide range of opportunities Queens’ has to offer.

With your support, we plan to enclose Lyon Court to create quality study spaces that can be used year-round.

Enclosure of Lyon Court will create:

All-year-round usage

Increased number and better quality study spaces

Revenue generation opportunities for commercial conferencing

A glazed pavilion, bringing JCR & MCR together in an area supported by the Fitzpatrick Theatre, Bar, Gym, Squash Courts, and social space

Opportunity to release parts of Cripps Court that are currently underutilised

Great learning depends on great spaces

Your support creates the conditions for academic success

MAKE A DONATION

Discover more

Intellectual ambition

Our aim at Queens’ is to attract the very best, no matter their background.

FIND OUT MORE

Campaign updates

Keep up-to-date with the latest news, progress, developments and stories.

FIND OUT MORE

A small gift to help the students to fulfil their potential and live lives that change the world for the better in these challenging times.

Peter Frith (1971)

“It's good to be able to give a little back to a place that has given me and others so much. Studying at Queens' was an extraordinarily enriching experience. I'm also glad to see efforts being made to foster inclusiveness and diversity at both Queens' and Cambridge generally.”

Toby Gee (1985)

“I loved my time at Queens', partly for the opportunity to immerse myself in a subject that I loved, with guidance from the people who genuinely wrote the books on the topics I was studying. But also for the friends that I made there and all the other wonderful, intangible things the College gave me. ”

Claire Coleman (1996)

“Such fond memories of Queens' and especially Erasmus where I spent two years. Delighted to see the improvements the college has already made to the Erasmus building and is planning to make to other accommodation. I hope other students will feel as happy and as at home as I did during my time at Queens'.”

Louise Sealy (1980)

“Being a member of Queens' College has been an extraordinary privilege, on this Queens' Giving Day, I am honoured to give back to an institution that has given me so much. My donation is a small token of appreciation for the countless ways the college fosters excellence, innovation, and belonging.”

Luya Duan (2018)

“My Anthony L. Lyster Fellowship in Sociology at Queens’ has benefitted my research and my life in so many ways: it has connected me to an interdisciplinary set of scholars, a wonderful group of students and the amazing ideas that grow in conversation. It has given me the time and space to think through difficult and fascinating issues in scholarship and the broader world.”

Dr Ella McPherson, Fellow

“Being a member of Queen’s College has been an extraordinary privilege, on this Queen’s Giving Day,
I am honoured to give back to an institution that has given me so much. My donation is a small token of appreciation for the countless ways the college fosters excellence, innovation, and belonging.”

Luya Duan, Alumni

“In the last decade or two, my husband Mark (fellow Queens' graduate) and I have been able to visit Cambridge much more, and have reconnected with the College in a number of different ways - we wish we'd thought to do it sooner. It's a real pleasure to get the sense of being part of an on-going academic community, not only from reading College publications, but also from the wider university alumni events.”

Sally Dore (1982)

“Life began for me at Queens' 40 years ago and the friendships and memories, will I hope, be with me for the next 40. It's impossible to put a value on all this but a legacy to Queens' was an easy decision, especially as the process was so simple. Floreat Domus!”

Angus Saer (1986)

“The Lyster Fellowship (along with other endowed Fellowships) is essential to maintaining the world-class teaching environment and academic community of Queens’. Legacies such as this permit us to attract and retain leading academics who sustain the supervision system, contribute to the intellectual life of the College and support and advise our students.”

Professor Claude Warnick, Fellow (2001)

Be part of what comes next.