Building work on a shopping and student accommodation block on one of Oxford’s busiest streets is halfway to completion.
The construction team started the £36m Jesus College scheme about a year ago and it is due to be finished in autumn 2021 to mark the college’s 450th anniversary.
Northgate House
New retail units have been promised on the ground floor as part of the new development although it is not yet known what shops will open there.
Shoppers pass the new Northgate House
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Major retailers including Next and River Island relocated to the Westgate Centre when it opened in 2017.
Shoppers in Cornmarket pass Greggs
The new development will provide the college with new teaching facilities, indoor and outdoor communal spaces, postgraduate accommodation, a café and exhibition space.
The Oxford Mail and Oxford City Council are running the Rediscover Oxford campaign, to encourage people to return to the city centre after lockdown and the Northgate House scheme is the biggest improvement scheme in the city centre.
An artist's impression of the new Northgate House
Jesus College Principal, Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt, said: “With this new development, we are not just embracing the future of learning, we are shaping it.
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“Northgate will enable us to be a more open, agile, inclusive and integrated college; a college that respects tradition but is positioned firmly at the forefront of learning and research in the 21st century.”
At the heart of the development is the Digital Hub, according to the college. It said the Hub will use state-of-the-art digital streaming technologies to transform learning and research.
The construction site at the end of 2019
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The college added: “Building on the experience of the accelerated move towards digital streaming during the current pandemic, technology will go hand-in-hand with tradition to boost Jesus students’ learning experience, and showcase the wealth of interdisciplinary, world-leading research undertaken by college academics in fields as broad as climate change science, developmental biology and international history.”
Jesus College also aims to support a range of activities for public audiences including interactive performances, films, talks and exhibitions, and increase the reach of its access and outreach work.
The demolition is completed at the end of 2019
The college has made a short film to chart the progress of the construction work so far.
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Prof Shadbolt added: “This new film explains our vision for Northgate and reveals the rapid transformation of this historic corner of Oxford.
"We are very fortunate that work has been able to continue safely in recent months and the building is now emerging from behind and above the hoardings, for all to see.”
An aerial view of the construction site
The Northgate development was designed by MICA Architects and is being built by BAM.
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