OXFORD MIDDLE EAST CENTRE

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Type:           Educational
Status:         Complete - 2015
Value:          £11.5m
Works:        New Library, Auditorium and Archives

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The building is clad with polished stainless steel which reflects the changing season and its surroundings across its façade, blending softly into its environment rather than copying the prevailing materiality nor imposing itself on this setting. The curved form is defined by a protected Redwood tree.

 

The building contains a 118-seat auditorium, two reading rooms, a cafe and an archive containing St. Anthony’s College collection of Middle Eastern documents. The design was long-listed for the Stirling Prize, winner of an RIBA Regional Award, the Oxford Preservation Trust Award for Conservation and the Lux Award for Lighting Design.

 

Completed as Project Associate at Zaha Hadid Architects

Photography by Luke Hayes

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