Pembroke College Student Residences

This proposal, for a historic site in central Oxford, included 120 student rooms, a lecture theatre, a flexible seminar space and on-site car-parking. The site is complex and constrained, accessed from the main college building by a bridge across Brewer Street and occupies a pocket of land in the centre of the block.

Our design, which was developed for an invited competition, sought to establish a proper sense of place for this new part of the college by forming a new quadrangle at its heart. It sought to fit as many rooms onto the site as possible and to introduce plenty of daylight, making using the building enjoyable and intuitive.

Located at the heart of historic Oxford, this project represents an exemplar of contextual urban infill. The design seeks to respond appropriately to its varied and complex surroundings of narrow streets and academic courtyards through careful attention to scale and the selection of sympathetic but modern materials.