Wolfson celebrates the beginning of Phase 2 of Academic Wing development

On Monday 29 September, members and friends of Wolfson College gathered together to celebrate the beginning of the final phase of development of the New Academic Wing, which will serve to cement Wolfson's position at the forefront of graduate education in Oxford.

Professor Dame Hermione Lee, the College President, led the occasion, celebrating the “beautiful, useful, and transformative addition to the College” the new building will be. She highlighted how it will be a “new front to the world, a face to the street, and a vital beacon at the end of Linton Road to draw people into the College. It's a symbol of our flexible, free, receptive attitude to the wider world.” She expressed the College's thanks to the benefactors, the Wolfson Foundation and Mr John Adams, and to the internal and external teams who will be ensuring the project's success.

The event was attended by representatives from the architects and contractors, Berman Guedes Stretton and Benfield & Loxley respectively, who will be working on the project and who previously collaborated to create the Leonard Wolfson Auditorium. The Auditorium, opened in June 2013, was Highly Commended in the RICS' South East Awards 2014 and has been nominated for a 2014 Oxford Preservation Trust Award.

The new development will provide a link between the new and old buildings, sensitively harmonizing with the designs of the original architects, Powell and Moya, and creating a clear arrival-point appropriate to the open, welcoming ethos of the College.

 At the heart of the new building will be a much-need extension to the library, including an Isaiah Berlin Legacy room and new quiet study spaces constructed using the original elegant design from the main library. In addition to these more traditional aspects, the importance of interdisciplinary discussion and debate at Wolfson will be physically reflected in the creation of new informal study and media spaces, allowing for group work and providing a new place for discussion.

The new building will also act as social hub for the College, with a flexible café-exhibition area situated near the new Lodge. Here members will be able to meet and relax with friends, and visitors will find a warm welcome to the College.

The completed Academic Wing will be environmentally friendly, with heating obtained from an air source heat exchanger, and natural ventilation due to the induced movement of air across the building. Solar panels mounted on the roof of the existing building (which will be hidden behind a parapet) will feed hot water into both this new building and the existing building.