Draft:David Russell Apartments and Fife Park
{{AFC submission|d|nn|u=Fastfads|ns=118|decliner=MCE89|declinets=20250628073718|ts=20250619174538}}
{{Short description|University Accommodation in St Andrews}}
{{Draft topics|northern-europe}}
{{AfC topic|geo}}
{{Infobox building
| name = David Russell Apartments and Fife Park
| native_name =
| former_names = David Russell Hall
| alternate_names = DRA
| awards = Green Tourism Business Scheme’s Gold Award
| image = File:David Russell Hall - geograph.org.uk - 1441831.jpg
| alt = David Russell Apartments Facilities Building from Parking Lot
| caption = David Russell Apartments Facilities Building as seen from parking lot
| location = St Andrews, Scotland
| address = Buchanan Gardens
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9LY
| location_town = St Andrews, Fife
| location_country = Scotland
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| start_date = 2003
| completion_date = 2007
| inauguration_date = 23rd of February, 2007
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| building_type = Student residence
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| client = University of St Andrews
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| main_contractor = Morrison Construction
| renovation_date = 2010
| namesake = Sir David Russell
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}}
David Russell Apartments and Fife Park are a series of student halls of residence at the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland. Comprising of 19 buildings under the David Russell Apartments name and 14 buildings under the Fife Park name, the hall can hold over a thousand students in 33 buildings throughout the year. In the summer, the apartments operate as a hotel. David Russell Apartments was the first university residence in the Scotland to be awarded the Green Tourism Business Scheme's Gold Award.
History
File:David_Russell_Hall_1986.jpg
David Russell Hall, was built in the 1960s and comprised a series of independent blocks similar to the current layout. The names of each block were famous people related to St Andrews. The name of the complex was given in honor of Sir David Russell, a Scottish paper manufacturer and philanthropist who had donated 18,000 photographs to the University of St Andrews. These buildings were demolished in 2003-6 and replaced and expanded, creating the modern David Russell Apartments as a replacement to the aging hall of residence.{{Cite web |title=DAVID RUSSELL HALL |url=https://www.thesundayclass.org.uk/DAVID%20RUSSELL%20HALL.html |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=www.thesundayclass.org.uk}}{{Cite web |title=David Russell Hall, Scottish Country Dance Instructions |url=https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/dance-crib/david-russell-hall.html |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com}} Phase One opened on July 17th 2003, opening 230 rooms at a cost of £7.3 million almost a year after construction began.{{Cite web |title=Completion of new student residences {{!}} University of St Andrews news |url=https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/completion-of-new-student-residences/ |access-date=2025-06-20 |website=news.st-andrews.ac.uk}} The full renovation officially opened with Chancellor Gordon Brown in 2007. The replacement cost £34.7 million and added 448 beds to the existing capacity of the hall from the 1960s.{{Cite web |title=Gordon Brown to open £35m residence {{!}} University of St Andrews news |url=https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/gordon-brown-to-open-35m-residence/ |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=news.st-andrews.ac.uk}} In 2010, a further renovation added another 252 beds in an expansion to Fife Park which sought to add more than 500 beds to the development.{{Cite web |title=New accommodation welcomes returning students {{!}} University of St Andrews news |url=https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/new-accommodation-welcomes-returning-students/ |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=news.st-andrews.ac.uk}} In 2015, the full renovation was completed.{{Cite web |title=David Russell Hall, University of St Andrews |url=https://www.stantec.com/uk/projects/d/david-russell-hall-university-of-st-andrews |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=www.stantec.com |language=en}} By 2020, there were 1109 en suite rooms with double-size beds (275 are for postgraduates), 12 shared en suite rooms with single-size beds and 49 studio apartments available for postgraduates only.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXM3i2FfjU0 |title=David Russell Apartments/Fife Park (DRA FP) Tour – University of St Andrews |date=2020-02-08 |last=starTV |access-date=2025-06-19 |via=YouTube}}
Facilities
The 1960s design of David Russell Hall featured a similar design to the modern version. A key difference was a dramatic spire-topped facilities building at the centre of the complex.{{Cite web |title=David Russell Hall. St Andrews. |url=https://collections.st-andrews.ac.uk/item/david-russell-hall-st-andrews/59149 |access-date=2025-06-20 |website=collections.st-andrews.ac.uk |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=David Russell Hall, St Andrews. |url=https://collections.st-andrews.ac.uk/item/david-russell-hall-st-andrews/123791 |access-date=2025-06-20 |website=collections.st-andrews.ac.uk |language=en}} It included "Strachan Suite" and other amenities, such as a pool room, music room and television room. Each block was divided into a "low" and "high" section (referring to the room numbers) and shared a common room and pantry. Meals in the hall were provided in a central refectory for all residents, with out of hours meals available in the Strachan Suite café and the limited catering facilities provided in the pantries.{{cn}}
As David Russell Apartments and Fife Park, all rooms are en-suite with toilet and shower. Both self-catered and catered options are offered during term time. All rooms except for 24 are singles.{{Cite web |title=David Russell Apartments - Accommodation - University of St Andrews |url=https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/accommodation/undergraduate/david-russell-apartments/ |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=www.st-andrews.ac.uk}} The single rooms feature a double bed while the shared room have single beds. For postgraduates, 49 studio apartments are available.{{Cite web |title=David Russell Apartments - Accommodation - University of St Andrews |url=https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/accommodation/postgraduate/david-russell-apartments/ |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=www.st-andrews.ac.uk}} Each building has around 12 flats; each flat has 5 bedrooms and a kitchen/living room area. The kitchens include a kettle, fridge and freezer, microwave, oven and electric cooker, pots and pans, steam iron and ironing board, clothes airer, basin, cutlery tray and sink tidy, dustpan and brush, broom, mop and bucket, and vacuum cleaner, and general waste and recycling bins. In the central facilities building there is a reception and administration area, the Nisbet Room (featuring a media player, an Xbox, a large TV and a cinema room), an area for table games, a large licensed bar, a computer lounge with 22 computers available and self-service bistro area for catered residents.
When operating as a 3 star hotel{{Cite web |title=3 stars for university apartments {{!}} University of St Andrews news |url=https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/3-stars-for-university-apartments/ |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=news.st-andrews.ac.uk}}, the University offers both an entire self-catered flat (5 bedrooms) or just a bed and breakfast room.{{Cite web |title=David Russell Apartments - Accommodation, Conferences and Events - University of St Andrews |url=https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/accommodation-conferences-events/accommodation/david-russell-apartments/ |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=www.st-andrews.ac.uk}}
Awards
David Russell Apartments has received a number of awards for its environmentally friendly design. The central facilities building's roof is topped with grass, which acts as a heat insulator during the winter and a natural cooler during the summer months.{{cn}} In 2006, David Russell Apartments was the first university residence in Scotland to be awarded the Green Tourism Business Scheme's Gold Award.{{Cite web |title=DRA presented top green award {{!}} University of St Andrews news |url=https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/dra-presented-top-green-award/ |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=news.st-andrews.ac.uk}} This continued for several years, with the last recorded award in 2011 along with Agnes Blackadder Hall (named New Hall at this time).{{Cite web |title=Top green awards for student halls {{!}} University of St Andrews news |url=https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/top-green-awards-for-student-halls/ |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=news.st-andrews.ac.uk}}
Other Information
David Russell Hall has a reel named after itself.{{Cite web |title=David Russell Hall, Scottish Country Dance Instructions |url=https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/dance-crib/david-russell-hall.html |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com}} In 2010, Quinn Wilde a student at the University and a well known contributor to [https://www.thesinner.net/mb/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=5046 thesinner.net] (a University forum for St Andrews popular in the middle to late 2000s) wrote a book about a year he spent in Fife Park.{{Cite book |url=https://www.readanybook.com/ebook/a-year-in-fife-park-671390 |title=A Year in Fife Park |language=en-CN}}{{Cite web |title=A Year in Fife Park |url=http://fifepark.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517092629/http://fifepark.com/ |archive-date=2014-05-17 |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=fifepark.com}}
References
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External links
[https://web.archive.org/web/20041206124033/http://davidrussellhall.com/ David Russell Hall's Website (2004)]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20140517092629/http://fifepark.com/ Fife Park Book Official Website (2014, archived)]
{{University of St Andrews}}