the oxford city council’s strategic development control committee has been granted permission for the university of oxford to build a new department of earth sciences that will house nearly 400 students and staff. london-based firm wilkinson eyre architects is responsible for the department’s new design which will not only meet the academic requirements of the faculty and its students, but also be an expression of the subjects which are taught and researched.

the building is arranged as a simple diagram with a two wings: one with highly serviced laboratories and another wing of academic offices separated by a stair, the hinge and an atrium. there is a common room and terrace on the roof which provides a key point for quieter private academic interaction amongst the earth scientists. the ground floor will act more as a meeting place for public activities and will include a foyer, knowledge research centre, seminar spaces and undergraduate teaching labs. there is also a narrative wall which leads to the heart of the building and is clad in linear folded planes of purbeck cap limestone and translucent laminated glass. as a whole, the shifting striations through the façade can be read as reminiscent of certain geological features.

wilkinson eyre: new university of oxford building

wilkinson eyre: new university of oxford building

wilkinson eyre: new university of oxford building