Sidney Sussex College 360 Virtual Tour
A 26 location bespoke 360 virtual tour of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, with a custom interface: a walking route through the College, a written guide in 31 numbered points, and an aerial map taken by drone.
Sidney Sussex College, founded in 1596, is one of the colleges of the University of Cambridge and sits on Sidney Street in the centre of the city. Behind the gate are courts, a chapel, gardens, a dining hall, libraries and student rooms that most prospective students never see before they apply.
We first built the College’s tour on our 360 Studio platform. It has now been rebuilt as one of our bespoke 360 virtual tours: 26 locations, an aerial view of the whole College, a written guide with 31 numbered points, and an interface designed for Sidney in its navy and gold. Below we walk through each feature and why it is there.
A welcome that offers three ways in
The tour opens over an aerial photograph of the College with a clear choice. “Start the tour” begins on Sidney Street and visits all 26 locations in order. “See the College from above” opens the aerial map. Underneath, five buttons go straight to Courts and Chapel, Gardens, Facilities, Accommodation or Meeting rooms, so an applicant who only wants to see the rooms, or a conference organiser who only wants the meeting spaces, can skip to them.
A route through the College
The tour follows the route a visitor would walk: in from the street, through the entrance, around the courts and Chapel, out into the gardens, then the facilities, accommodation and meeting rooms. A route line along the bottom of the screen shows every location as a dot, grouped under those headings, with the current one in gold and visited ones filled in. Choosing a dot jumps to that location.
A card for every location
Each scene has a card in the corner with its name, its section and its place in the route, such as “Courts and Chapel, 5 of 26”. It lists the guide points in that scene, and its Next button names where it leads, so nobody has to guess what an arrow will do.
A written guide in 31 points
Gold numbered markers sit on the things worth knowing about. Opening one brings up a panel of text about that place: the history of the courts, the Chapel, the gardens, the library, the gym, and what student rooms and shared kitchens are like. Some points carry a picture, a “history lesson” or a quotation, such as a verse from ‘A Song of Sidney Sussex’ on the first stop. Previous and Next buttons move through the points in order, taking the visitor to the right scene as they go.
The whole guide in one list
“All 31 points” opens the Guide to the College, listing every point under its section. It ticks off the ones that have been read, marks where the visitor is now, and keeps a count, so someone can dip in, leave and pick up where they stopped.
The College from above
The aerial map is a 360 panorama taken by drone from 350 feet, flown with permission arranged through Cambridge Airport. Every location is pinned and labelled on it, so visitors can see how the courts, gardens and buildings fit together and choose any of them directly. It makes sense of a site that is hard to picture from street level.
Around the College
For people who would rather browse pictures, “Around the College” shows a photograph of all 26 locations grouped by section, with the current one outlined and visited ones marked.
Apply to Sidney, always in view
An “Apply to Sidney” button stays in the header on every screen. The menu adds links to open days, visiting the College, conferences and events, and the College website, so the tour leads somewhere whether the visitor is an applicant, a parent or an event organiser.
Settings, sharing and help
The menu also holds a short set of settings: larger text, hide the numbered points for a clear view, reduce motion, and move your phone to look around. “Copy a link to this view” lets staff send someone to an exact spot in the tour, and there is a full screen button. A four-step guide, “Finding your way”, explains how to look around, read the guide, move on and jump anywhere.
Designed for a phone as well
On a phone the header shrinks to the crest, an Apply button and the menu. The location card and guide panels rise from the bottom of the screen, within reach of a thumb, and the route line becomes a compact progress bar.
Self hosted, with no platform fee
Like our other bespoke tours, this one is delivered as a self-contained website that can be linked to, embedded or opened full screen, with no annual platform subscription for the tour itself. If you would like something similar for your college or school, take a look at our school and college virtual tours or get in touch for a quote.
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