Interior and Architectural Photographer of Darlington College in County Durham.

It was a pleasure to photograph Darlington College’s extension and refurbishment on behalf of Harrow Consulting, a leading North East chartered building surveyor and architectural designer.

The six-month programme at the college, which sits on Haughton Road, saw the creation of a new Construction Innovation Centre, internal refurbishment and expansion of the existing Learning Resource Centre, all aimed at offering an exceptional student learning experience within the construction
and engineering sectors.

The Construction and Innovation Centre was opened by Prince Andrew, on a recent visit to the North East to see various initiatives aimed at tacking youth unemployment. The work has added another 2,300 sq metres of light and airy space to the college, including a new student entrance with lockers and changing facilities, where students must put on high-vis vests, overalls, protective glasses and safety boots. 

The brief was to take predominantly architectural photography of the Darlington College in County Durham, plus a few staff shots (not included in blog).  When I’m doing architectural photography over the North East I make great use of perspective and colour to give viewers a sense of how the architects have used all the tools of their trade to create spaces that people will enjoy occupying, whether that’s for work or pleasure. The new extension and refurbishment certainly gave me a lot of options, with a bold set of colours and different textures wherever I looked.

The Construction Innovation Centre gives students access to plumbing, brickwork, electrical and painting and decoration workshops, plus gas assessment and a green energy training area.  I was impressed by the fully equipped training rooms housing all the equipment that students could require, and rows of steel tools against brick walls and wood panels provided some great depth to the photos.  

The courses are supported by new IT seminar and conferencing suites and a Learning Resource Centre, with glass walls so beloved of photographers promoting a real sense of space and giving me opportunities to use the reflections they threw off.

Although classes were in session I was able to discreetly get a few interiors photographs without disturbing the Darlington students. An large element of being a successful commercial photographer is being able to work around people, so the photos are fresh and look unstaged.

Even the corridors have been carefully planned out, with white walls and large format graphics breaking up the long stretches.  The cheery café area features red and grey tables and chairs, with the colours echoed in the nearby comfy seating areas, which look very inviting. 

Moving outside the Darlington College to shoot some exterior architectural photographs the curved overhang with its steel and glass frontage sat nicely with walls in blocked shades of grey and white. Highlighted against a brilliantly blue sky, I had everything a photographer needs to createcrisp, clear exterior photos and back at my Stockton photographic studio I was very pleased with the results of this half-day shoot