A PLANNING application for a £150 million University of Oxford building has been submitted.
The application is now live on Oxford City Council’s online planning portal, with the building set to bring together seven faculties.
It has been made possible by a £150 million donation to the university from Stephen Schwarzman – a friend of Donald Trump, who is reportedly worth more than £30 billion.
Proposals are that the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities will be built at the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter.
The building will include a 500-seat concert hall, a 250-seat theatre and a 100-seat Black Box lab for experimental performance.
Plans also include a schools and public engagement centre, in order to bring Oxfordshire children into contact with humanities research and researchers.
The university held two public consultations on the building – during November and December last year, and in June and July this year.
William Whyte, professor of architectural history at the university, said: “We are grateful to the people of Oxford who gave feedback on our initial proposals and we are delighted to submit our final designs for planning permission.
“The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities will transform the work of our scholars and offer untold opportunities for the city as a whole.
“An inspirational piece of design by a world-leading architectural practice, it will also be a pioneering example of sustainability in architecture.”
Read again: Sir Philip Pullman backs new University of Oxford building where stories were set
The building, designed by Hopkins Architects, will have solar power generation on the roof and will be all-electric, with heat pumps rather than boilers.
Visitors will be encouraged to take public transport, with no new parking spaces other than for disabled users.
Author Sir Philip Pullman set the His Dark Materials trilogy in Oxford, with the fictional Jordan College on the site of the Schwarzman Centre.
In June, he backed the centre, saying it will be ‘an exciting and distinguished addition to the architecture of this beautiful city’.
A new library is planned as part of the building, in addition to a cafe and other meeting spaces which will be open to the public and accessible without having to pass through a security barrier.
The city council will consider the application following a 13-week consultation period, with a decision expected in the spring.
If the application gets the green light, the university aims to complete construction in 2025.
To view the planning application online, search the city council planning portal using the reference number 21/03057/FUL.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel