Oxford, United Kingdom
Amanda Levete of London-based architectural practice AL_A in collaboration with Churchman Thornhill Finch designs the two campus buildings of Wadham College, located in Oxford, that aim to better connect the surrounding college buildings and recentre their quads, or courtyards, as the social centers of the campus.
Wadham College buildings have recently been awarded a 2022 International Architecture Awards Honorable Mention by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
“We wanted to re-establish the original masterplan and the relationship between the quads, reconnecting the college physically and visually through improved connections and views through the buildings and between the quads,” explains Ho-Yin Ng, AL_A director.
“The quads are the social centers of the college, and we wanted to emphasize this by establishing a gathering space at the heart of the site, on the steps of the new connecting stairway up to the library terrace.”
Both buildings are clad in glass, reflecting the nearby buildings, with the aim of allowing the contemporary structures to blend in with their historic surroundings.
The glass on the access center is horizontally etched to create a worn, stone-like texture that mimics surrounding stone buildings.
“Layers of subtle color add warmth and ground the building in its context, referencing the colors of the stained-glass windows in the college chapel,” Ng explains.
“The warm finish of the metal aluminum window reveals and fins match the warm tones of the stone finishes throughout the College,” he adds.
“The delicate details and colors of the facade further activate the buildings by shifting in tone throughout the day and through the seasons; as you approach the centers from a distance, the perception changes.”
A large staircase made from Yorkstone physically and visually connects the old campus library with the new access center by sweeping into the base of the structure.
The Yorkstone steps form amphitheater-style seating to create a social space at the heart of the campus between two courtyards.
Inside, the buildings are connected by a red “ribbon-like” staircase that brightly contrasts with the light stone surroundings.
According to the architects, the ribbon-like stair is a streak of color rising up the building with tendrils seen to connect both buildings.
It is highly visible from the outside from both the back and bar quads and acts as a graphic, metaphorical, as well as physical link between two centers that are otherwise distinct.
Project: Wadham College
Architects: AL_A
Lead Architect: Amanda Levete
Landscape Architects: Churchman Thornhill Finch
General Contractor: Beard Construction
Project Manager: Bidwells
Client: Julia Banfield
Photographers: Nick Hufton, Hufton + Crow
