Keble Quad plans revised (From The Oxford Times)

Keble Quad plans revised

5:50am Thursday 12th November 2009 in News

KEBLE College has submitted revised plans this week for a £50m scheme to create a new campus between Woodstock and Banbury Road.

The college wants to build on the site of the former Acland private hospital, which the college acquired four years ago in a £10.75m deal.

The Keble development would form a new gateway into the city centre from the north, standing across the road from the new £500m Oxford University quarter being created on the old Radcliffe Infirmary site.

Keble had unveiled its original plans in February but withdrew them in the face of strong opposition about key aspects of the scheme, including the demolition of a grade II-listed building designed by the great Victorian architect Sir Thomas Jackson.

In the new plan, the building by Jackson, dating from 1897, has been incorporated into the new college quad.

Jackson is the architect responsible for many of Oxford’s most famous structures, including the Bridge of Sighs.

The Keble scheme represents one of the biggest college developments in recent history. It is the work of the architect Rick Mather, the architect responsible for the £61m redevelopment of the Ashmolean Museum, which opened its doors to the public on Saturday.

The Keble development would have frontages on the Woodstock and Banbury roads. The frontage on the Banbury Road has also been substantially redesigned following criticism that the buildings were out of character with surrounding buildings.

The frontage no longer presents a straight line of buildings, with buildings now set further back at the northern end of Banbury Road, to retain the view of the listed 27 Banbury Road.

The redrawn plans are expected to add millions to the cost. It may also mean a slight reduction in the accommodation for students and a loss of academic and research space.

Keble had originally hoped the site would provide accommodation for 250 students, along with seminar rooms and a new multi-disciplinary research facility, created close to the Royal Oak pub on Woodstock Road.

Roger Boden, bursar of Keble College, said: “A century ago Thomas Jackson was Oxford's architect of choice, responsible for the Examination Schools and the High Street frontage of Brasenose, as well as buildings for Corpus, Trinity and Somerville.

“Rick Mather could reasonably lay claim to Jackson's mantle: his much-praised Ashmolean development follows two award-winning buildings for Keble, a gem of a theatre at Corpus, and work in progress for The Queen's College and Mansfield. Both architects have a genius for invention and innovation that complements and compliments the existing built environment.”

Tony Joyce, chairman of Oxford Civic Society, said: “We are pleased with the adaptations that Keble has made to the quad that had been originally proposed and we are happy that it has been possible to retain the building by Jackson. The college also seems to have met the criticisms about Banbury Road.”

But he said doubts remained about the side facing out on the Woodstock Road: “We are questioning the impact of the new research building on the Royal Oak. Questions will also have to be considered about the relation of this building to the new buildings being developed on the opposite side of the road.”