Said Business School plans to revamp Oxford's first power station

Osney Power Station is set to be turned into a major new education centre by the Said Business School and Oxford University if planning permission is granted.

The executive education centre would include 120 hotel-style bedrooms, a swimming pool and a dining room with capacity for 140 people.

It would replace the business school’s use of Egrove Park in Kennington as a residential building for students on its bespoke courses.

Designers have said they think their proposals provide a ‘sympathetic union between the industrial character [of the power station] and a new identity for the business school’.

A perforated metal veil and internal curtain wall would be installed for some bedrooms on upper storeys of the building overlooking East Street to retain residents’ privacy.

The entrance space to the building, the 'Agora', would be kept. That would act as an informal meeting space or a pre-function space before dining. Its crane and roof structure would also be retained.

The plan shows four independent teaching areas would be sited on the first floor, directly above a dining room.

While the power station is not listed it is said to be a ‘building of considerable character and presence’.

A Said Business School spokeswoman said: “Our proposal is to develop the Osney Power Station into an executive education centre that will deliver programmes and provide residential facilities for company executives, close to the existing school buildings in Park End Street.

“We are very pleased with the level of community engagement so far through our public consultations and to have been able to include some design adjustments responding to community feedback.

“The project presents an opportunity to carry out sensitive and respectful regeneration of the building to retain its historical character relating to Oxford’s industrial heritage.”

The power station opened a decade after the Electric Lighting Act, which allowed public generation of electricity.

It was used to supply electricity across Oxford from 1892 to 1968, initially by the Oxford Electric Company.

In 1971 it was bought by Oxford University’s engineering department and used as a research laboratory.

Other work done in the building since then has included use of liquid crystals to research blade cooling, which is now widely used by aero-engine manufacturers.

Documents state: “The significance of the station is rooted in its contribution to the city’s industrial legacy, the architectural interest of its brick-faced elevations and the impressive industrial character of its interior.”

The university’s museum department is currently using part of the building for storage. The rest is vacant.

Planning documents note the much of the western part of Oxford ‘does not currently make a full contribution to the economic, cultural and community life of the city’.

They continue: “Nor does it match Oxford’s international reputation as a place of quality, interest and history.”

The plans could transform the area, because it is in an ‘excellent location for the [business school], being located so closely to both the main school and the train station with fast access to London and the South West as well as only a short walk from the city centre', the designers claim.

They are John McAslan + Partners, famous for a number of high-profile projects. They have carried out work at the Tate Britain, Millbank and King’s Cross station in London and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Since the power station opened on June 18, 1892, the building has undergone a number of changes. In 1904/5, a new north wing facing onto Russell Street was built.

Then in 1925, the power station was substantially extended; two years later a fourth bay was replaced by a two-storey building in ‘factory art deco’ style, facing onto the river. Other work was completed in the 1950s.

The new facility in the city centre would provide the business school with increased student capacity. Currently its Egrove Park site, about two miles outside the city centre, can support 108 delegates for conferences and up to 110 diners.