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With the motto “Praesto Et Persto”, or Latin for “I stand firm, and I stand fast”, Garden Hall is…all right enough of that boring drivel. But utterly honestly, and completely unbiasedly, Garden Hall is probably one of the best places to spend your first year at Imperial. It takes its name from the two gardens (yes two! while other halls struggle to even have one…) behind the hall which students are free to access but most likely never do due to the hundred and one things students have to do apart from spending glorious spring days strolling the gardens (yes I know right these students don’t know their priorities!).
Other than that, Garden Hall is probably the most ancient thing you can find at Imperial College, even older than the actual college itself which was founded in 1907. Built in the 1860s with profits from the Great Exhibition of 1851 (you can still find traces of this in the area around the College, such as Exhibition Road for instance), it was part of “Albertopolis”, a brainchild of Prince Albert, who wanted the area to be a centre of cultural and educational excellence. Since then, it has been home to a silly number of lords and knights, as well as hosting refugees from the Hungarian Uprising of 1956.
So what does the hall have to offer? Apart from the absolutely exciting thought that your room could have once been the drawing room/study/kitchen/dining room/servant’s quarters of some rich knight/lord/important person, its location is excellent. As one of the closest halls to Imperial College and Essentials (a convenience store), THE closest hall to Ethos, the Imperial gym/sports facility and a short shortcut away from Knightsbridge, the shopping/dining heart of London, the possibilities go far beyond the academic and cater well to people who have some interest in things other from books. More thrillingly, it is also the definition of “cheap student accommodation” with prices of triple rooms starting at 68 pounds a week (although I am told it used to be a third cheaper less than 10 years ago, but that’s a story for another day) and large spacious rooms (after all, this used to be a house for some rich Victorian family).
Environment-wise, hall events are plentiful for those who want to attend them – ranging from barbeques to sushi nights to mexican-themed fiestas – the possibilities are limited to only the imagination of the hall seniors who come up with them. The hall is also home to one of the finest, most delectable, and largest spreads of any hall breakfast at Imperial College (just compare yourselves with the poor Eastside guys, and you’ll know what I mean). Occasionally, the hall wardens get especially nice and serve fried breakfasts (yes bacon and eggs!). Novelty-wise, the hall also has some splendidly furnished lounges (wood-panelled and all) and traces of Victorian architecture throughout the hall, which should be highly thrilling if for some reason you’re into anything Victorian.
So well, now comes the point in any GP essay where things have to be balanced by a clear enunciation of views from both sides of the issue. The bad thing about staying in double/triples is obviously the lack of privacy; to those who need their peace and quiet, and just need a room to themselves to study in silence, these rooms are definitely not for you. However, there are ways to get around that – I told myself I could go to the library (open virtually 24/7) if things got really rowdy, or to just simply suck it and enjoy a good first year with a couple of interesting roommates (isn’t that what an overseas education is for? …and for the record, I stay in a triple.) The best way to avoid all this, however, is to probably not put “partying” “clubbing” and “drinking” as your interests on the hall application form.
The other thing is the hall facilities are really not that new (what can you expect from a hall dating back to 1851) but are generally quite well-maintained, although some things, like our kitchens, pale in comparison to the futuristic ultra-modern space-age kitchens of Eastside and Southside Halls.
Anyhow, if you do get the opportunity to stay in this hall, us (your seniors from this hall) will do our best you show you around (contact us through the website) and to help you settle in at the greatest hall at Imperial!
(The writer offers his unabashed opinion as a resident of Garden Hall. For more mundane things like the appliances/furniture you’re entitled to etc. you would be well-advised to visit the hall website.)
Garden Hall is probably one of the halls with the best value for money. The rent per week is among the lowest among the halls offered by Imperial College – ranging from £68 to less than £110 per week, and most importantly, Garden Hall is literally a stone’s throw away from college. We could wake up fifteen minutes before the first lesson and still be able to make it in time for lessons.
The hall consists of three Victorian Era houses connected together. The buildings are a little old but emanate a homely feeling to their residents. There are no lifts in the building and the floors are connected in with a labyrinth of staircases that could confuse the first-timers. But eventually, you will get a hang of it! The facilities are a little old but they still work well and are maintained very well and cleaned regularly.
In conclusion, Garden Hall is simply the most value of money hall you can find. Proximity and cozy rooms can’t be wrong!
A Special Friend
The author lives in a room with a Window overlooking the “secret garden”, a garden behind Garden and Weeks Hall that only their residents can access.
You’d accompanied me through the seasons of the year. During Winter, you’d stood between that howling bitterly cold wind and I. You brought me the light and lively air of Spring. In Autumn, you gave me the cool winds, those refreshing breaks from the fervor of the season. In all seasons you had brought me plentiful sunshine and the accompanied cheerful moments. What a joy it is to have you by my side!
You’d brought me novel experiences. It was through you that I had the first peek at those dancing white faeries. I was surprised to see the sheer number that they came in, besieging the garden in all angles, so determined to transform the dreariness of autumn into the elegance of winter. As the days grew warmer, as the greens returned to the skeletal frames that were the bald trees, those delightful chirps of the lively Magpies lessened the headaches of a sleepless night; they were all busy pronoucing the start of a season of renewal. Birds chirping along the rhythmic shuffling of leaves moved by the gentle breeze, squirrels scurrying between branches, mouths with nuts – a scene of the organic, a welcome break from the symbolic. Then there was the little brown fox standing at the pavement – what an intriguing scene that was, evoking images from those childhood stories of foxes in gardens. With these, a WWII warplane and much more than I could ever describe, you’d opened up a portal and had me momentarily transported into dreams that had become, till then, distant memories.
Now, it is with much dismay that I must prepare to say my first and final goodbye. Remember that night when the sky was painted with the rainbow streaks from the fireworks? Our acquaintance is like each of these explosions of colours: brief yet beautiful. Like the children who come together in the garden below us everyday, we have enjoyed a great time together. Alas, there will be an end to every boisterous playtime, every beautiful meeting. Try as I might to desist, I am but a powerless mortal who, like scores before me, falters helplessly in the face of the passage of time and the inevitability of fate. Let me, then, prepare myself well for the parting moment. Allow me to have a last glimpse of the world through those eyes of wisdom, and stoically, for the very last and only time, draw the curtains over what has truly been a wonderful chapter of my life.
This ending is and should only be for me, and I will leave you in the comfort of knowledge that you would remain steadfast in your friendship to whoever a lucky soul would inherit my place.
Thank you my friend for everything.
And Goodbye.