The refurbishment project included the total upgrade of student bedrooms and four tutor apartments, new double-glazed windows and the addition of hydronic heating to replace the outdated existing floor heating.
The eight shared bathrooms, laundries and corridors updated in 2008 have also had new flooring, windows and heating installed.
According to Property and Facilities Services Manager Scott Fennell, ‘Cowan has generally been in good condition and structurally sound. Up until now, however, it has been energy inefficient’.
A time capsule has been buried in an old electrical pit discovered during the works. The capsule includes mementos of 2015 left for future Trinitarians to rediscover.
Cowan was built in two stages, between 1962 and 1964, and allowed for the demolition of the Wooden Wing (‘temporarily’ erected in 1919, on what is now the Carpark behind Clark).
Its construction came shortly after the Memorial Building (‘Jeopardy’), which was completed in 1958.
View images of the refurbished rooms and archival photos here