Once admitted, postgraduate students at St Catharine’s become members of the Middle Combination Room (MCR). The MCR gets its name from an actual room located in the Old Lodge building where postgraduates can still meet and relax together, as well as using it as an extra study space in addition to the College's libraries.
Postgraduates also elect representatives to the St Catharine’s MCR Committee, which is responsible for organising an active calendar of social and academic events, and providing an important link between our students and the College’s different decision-making bodies.
Over the last few months, the Committee has been busy working with the College’s maintenance team on improvements to the MCR itself. The room was refurbished over the summer in readiness for students arriving in Cambridge for the start of the new academic year. Read on to find out more about the improvements that have happened.
The vision
The motion to refurbish the MCR was originally proposed by Tobia Nava, an Engineering PhD student at St Catharine’s who was elected Accommodation Officer on the MCR Committee. He explained:
“The MCR Committee represents great responsibility and opportunity. You can have a real impact on the whole community and shape the future of its culture. For me, the common rooms are part of the cultural heritage of Cambridge and live with their members. I wanted to revive the MCR space as a friendly and inviting central hub where postgraduate students could hang out, study and get to know each other. There hadn’t been any major work done on the room for the last decade, and it was definitely due for a makeover.”
Postgraduates enjoying the new-look MCR during a recent event (credit: Tobia Nava)
Postgraduates studying in the MCR, now with artwork on the walls (credit: Tobia Nava)
Praharsh Babu, a final-year medical student and MCR Co-President, added:
“The improvements have been funded by the MCR Committee, the College and the support of a generous donor. The collaborative effort between Tobia and the College’s maintenance team has resulted in an amazing new space. They have done a fantastic job decorating, sourcing and fitting curtains, upgrading lighting, carrying out custom carpentry work to create new storage, and repairing the original woodwork. They’ve even found a way to reuse most of the old furniture elsewhere in College – nothing has been thrown away! On behalf of the Committee and the MCR community, I would like to thank everyone involved for their hard work.”
The maintenance team who refurbished the MCR (left–right): Terry Bull (College Electrician), Nick Usher (College Carpenter), Jack Francis (Apprentice Painter & Decorator) and Rob Emmans (College Painter & Decorator). Not pictured but also involved was Richard Humphries (Maintenance Assistant).
Encouraging collaboration and socialising
The most obvious changes to the furnishings have been designed to support collaborative working by postgraduate students and to enable a broader range of social activities to take place.
Praharsh said, “The room now has a large antique table and set of chairs so that students can work side-by-side – and we are looking forward to using the table for committee meetings, board game nights, and much more in the coming weeks. We have also replaced the seating with brand-new sofas, which we hope everyone will find more welcoming and comfortable.”
The new second-hand table and chairs (credit: Tobia Nava)
The table with refreshments before an MCR social event (credit: Tobia Nava)
Celebrating our history
As the College is marking its 550th anniversary in 2023, the Committee wanted to celebrate this history through the design of the room.
Tobia explains, “We chose a colour scheme and furniture that is more in-keeping with the College’s rich history. Where possible, we have reused second-hand items. This helped make the most of the project’s budget, while also being more sustainable and authentic as well! Thanks to the support of Dr Colin Higgins (2018), our walls are now decorated with artworks from the College’s collection, which makes the space more interesting and inviting.”
BEFORE: The upper part of the MCR had individual study spaces and arm chairs (credit: Binky Nixon)
AFTER: The same space now has new sofas and a second-hand dining table with chairs (credit: Tobia Nava)
BEFORE: The lower part of the MCR had a mix of modern and older furniture (credit: Binky Nixon)
AFTER: The same space with furniture (second-hand and new) chosen to reflect the room's history (credit: Tobia Nava)
