Oriel College Design Competition, Oxford Architecture Contest News, Architects

Oriel College Design Competition

Architecture in Oxfordshire, England, UK

30 Jun 2013

Oriel College Oxford Design Competition

Oriel College, Oxford

Oriel College, Oxford has launched a design competition to find an exceptional team for a major project, estimated between £5-10 million, to reprogramme its social spaces and catering facilities. The competition focuses on the wedge-shaped area that lies between the Grade I listed Hall, Chapel and medieval wall running along Magpie Lane. The site includes the dining hall, bar and social space, kitchen and ancillary facilities.

photographs from MRC

Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) is managing the two-stage competition on behalf of the College. Initially, Expressions of Interest (EOIs) are invited, from which a shortlist of five to seven teams will be selected to work up concept proposals.

Teams have until 19th July 2013 to register and submit their EOI. Further details about the project, including the registration form, are available on the dedicated competition microsite: http://competitions.malcolmreading.co.uk/orielcollege

Wilf Stephenson, College Treasurer, said:

‘Until now, the College has relied on a mix of ad-hoc and utilitarian buildings to support our grand public and social spaces. This project will modernise and extend the less-obvious but essential supporting spaces, as well as improve connections between the Grade I showpiece rooms. We want to commission a contemporary intervention that meets our need for modern facilities yet remains sensitive to our historic buildings.’

Malcolm Reading, competition organiser for the V&A’s Exhibition Road site, the British Pavilion for Shanghai World Expo 2010 and the Aberdeen City Garden project commented:

‘The successful team will need to skilfully resolve the puzzle here, eking the space out, focusing on how it is experienced by users and at the same time integrating any new building, so that it relates to the existing ensemble of seventeenth-century and medieval architecture.’ All competition entrants must follow the registration procedure, as explained on the competition website. The shortlist will be announced at the end of July 2013 and the winning team announced by late October 2013.

Oriel College Oxford

Oriel College was founded in 1326 by King Edward II. It was one of the first five Colleges founded at Oxford. The College takes its name from one of the original buildings, La Oriole, which stood on the site of the present Front Quadrangle.

Oriel’s most famous period was between 1780 and 1850, culminating in its association with Keble, Newman and the Oxford Movement, which sought to reassert the catholic heritage of the Church of England. Today, the College is known for its friendliness and warm atmosphere, as well as its broad academic range, with nearly 50 Fellows representing some 30 subjects. It educates 300 undergraduates and 200 graduate students and has a non-academic and support staff of 150. The College’s elegant quadrangles are Grade I listed and exemplify ‘Gothic Survival’ design, a style characterised by ‘a modest gothic idiom and framework’, combined with typical 17th century design elements. The neoclassical Senior Library was designed by James Wyatt in the 1780s.

For more information please see www.oriel.ox.ac.uk

Oriel College Oxford Design Competition image / information from Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC)

Location: Oriel College, Oxford, England

Oxford Architecture

picture © Nick Kane