Wadham College, Oxford

The Dorothy Wadham Building is a new undergraduate residential quad comprising four individual buildings of three and four storeys arranged around a shared courtyard garden. Lining the quad's fourth side is a single storey pavilion, an informal common room for students in term time and a conference and teaching facility throughout the summer. Domestic in scale as befits their residential location, the buildings quietly assert themselves, representing the College in this prominent location on a main route into the city.

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A traditional quad form conveys a strong collegiate identity

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Context

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The high-quality building provides the College with a strong presence on the Iffley Road, a main arterial route into Oxford

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The single storey 'Garden Room' along the eastern edge of the quad

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On the edge of a conservation area, a principle challenge was to design new institutional architecture to sit comfortably within a residential setting of heritage value

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The variety of volumes created by the gabled roof form an exciting mix of attic rooms

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Common kitchens overlook the internal courtyard and provide a backdrop of activity

City: Oxford, UK
Use: Education
Client: Wadham College, University of Oxford
Status: Completed
Size: 5,432 sqm
Units: 137
Awards: RIBA Regional Award 2021, Oxford Preservation Trust Award New Building 2020, Oxford Preservation Trust Award Green Award 2020, Civic Trust Award Regional Finalist 2020
Collaborators: Project manager: Bidwells
Structure: Engineers HRW
Services: Skelly and Couch
Contractor: Gilbert Ash
Planning: Carter Jones
Cost: PSP
Access: David Bonnett Associates
Landscape: Bradley Hole Schoenaich Landscape Architects