Would the real Mr Caldwell please step forward?

Mr Caldwell is, as is apparent to anyone who has spoken with him, a Glaswegian by right of birth, though his resistance to a permanent record of his voice or visage outliving him testify to a little bit of vanity that is uncommon in a Scot. Although trained as an architect by the University of Strathclyde, Mr Caldwell’s early forays in to the blueprint and set-square profession gave way to a desire to be in the commissioning side of building design. This eventually led to Sheffield Hallam University where, as Director of Estates, he helped revolutionise the campus design. Mr Caldwell was at Sheffield for three years before moving to his present post as Director of Estates at Imperial College.

He has now been here for three years…

Do you enjoy working here?

I would describe it as challenging, but basically, yes. It is a stimulating environment in which to work, not only because of the academic environment but also for the high standards that are expected. When you first walk on campus, all you see are sixties problems, that cannot easily be solved. But with the medical mergers there is greater opportunity to resolve some of these problems, and have a much bigger impact on the future of the College.

The hierarchy here is much better than many other universities. IC is much more consensus led than many institutions, and I think that this has caused problems for some staff who are used to a more tiered management structure. I would add to that and say that College has a bloody good team who are brave enough to admit mistakes.

How has your role within the College changed while you have been here?

There is much more focus on planning now, and though there have been great improvements, the every day organisation is not quite there. You have to realise that there is never going to be enough money to do what we would like, but we are now beginning to understand our priorities much better. There is an assumption that students and staff want to work in a place of quality.

When you look out of the window, what do you see?

The image that is generated by the College can be related that created by other institutions, for example, the Queen’s Lawn can be compared with the Great Lawn of MIT, or the University of Technology in Hong Kong.

When, if ever, you leave here, what do you want to be remembered for?

I have no plans to leave just yet! I think that I would like to feel that I would have achieved something different. But there are perhaps two main things I would like to do. Firstly, I would really like to develop a partnership between the Estates Division and the academic departments; try and achieve a better understanding of each other and what departments need from us. For example, the lecture theatre and research lab refurbishment over the past few summers. Ideally, the project managers should also have better relationships with the departments. I think that Estates can be the intellectual equal, in its field, to the academic departments.

Secondly, I would like to leave something that people wouldn’t have expected. At Sheffield, there was a major space created on the campus that I was involved in designing and initiating that helped unify how the university worked. They believe that I left something worthwhile. I haven’t yet had anything named after me though!

What do you do in your spare time?

I like to spend a lot of time with my family: at weekends, we often go to art galleries or restaurants. I particularly like modern and innovative places, such as the Tate. I am quite interested in the design of buildings and how they use their space and dimensions. One of my children (Mr C has two sons aged 11 and 16) is just choosing his A Levels; he wants to study interior design and so is interested in this use of space too.

What sort of music do you listen to?

I love Buddy King and Chicago Blues, though I have a broader range of music I enjoy such as Elton John and jazz. And I saw Carmen at the Royal Albert Hall last night.

Being more general about my taste, I would like a Morgan car .

Do you think that Scotland have a chance of winning the Five Nations?

We will be back! We may not win this year, but in the future we will have built up a good team, and then we’ll definitely win!

Where do you see the College going in the future?

Physically, it will not be where it is now. I imagine that there will be more changes in the estate than we can predict, though more integration with some of the medical sites would be inevitable as more of the departments undertake integrated research. You might foresee a time when certain departments have outstations within the medical sites.

One of the biggest challenges for the estate is the RSM building. Basically, it is in poor shape, out of step with modern thinking and inefficient with its space. But to restructure the RSM would take millions, which we simply don’t have. We will always be short of cash.

As for mergers and acquisitions, there are unlikely to be any more mergers, and though there will be far greater co-operation between the South Kensington institutions, we are not going to absorb the Science Museum, for example. There will be cross fertilisation of ideas, and more joint seminar programmes and other sorts of linked activity. College needs to become more known to, and more open with, the local community generally, not just the museums.

How do students now compare to when you were a student?

Well, beer was cheaper, but generally students are more mature now…