Dickson Poon University of Oxford China Centre Building
- Status
- Completed 2014
- Client
- University of Oxford
- Value
- £21m
- Procurement Method
- Design and Build
- Services
- Architect Lead Consultant from inception to completion
- Scale
- 5,630m²
Awards
- Civic Trust Awards - Regional 2016 Finalist
The University of Oxford has been regarded as Europe’s leading centre for the study of China for some time. The Dickson Poon University of Oxford China Centre Building completes the second phase of David Morley Architects’ master plan for St Hugh’s College. Its realisation has been made possible by the merging of two aspirations: to provide high quality teaching facilities and student accommodation to cater for the evolving needs of St Hugh’s College and to provide a state of the art facility to house the Centre of Chinese Studies at the University of Oxford.
- Status
- Completed 2014
- Client
- University of Oxford
- Value
- £21m
- Procurement Method
- Design and Build
- Services
- Architect Lead Consultant from inception to completion
- Scale
- 5,630m²
Awards
- Civic Trust Awards - Regional 2016 Finalist
This has allowed St Hugh’s to realise the potential of its land through collaboration with the University in both academic terms and financial terms and to facilitate the kind of collaborative and multidisciplinary work so vital for the China Centre who previously lacked any purpose-built accommodation, suitable to its needs and importance.
A share of the new building, with independent access, now provides a permanent home with the level of dynamism which befits a hub of cross-disciplinary activity, devoted to the study of, collaboration with, and welcome of visitors from one of the most significant economic powers of the world.
The building encourages the mingling of occupants and exchanging of ideas as students and academics circulate via the glazed lift, the helical staircase and the link bridges to the lecture theatres, the library, and the teaching spaces. All of the building’s different learning spaces connect with nature either through views onto the beautifully landscaped College gardens or into the building’s Chinese courtyard garden.