This event has now taken place.

Venue: University of Oxford

09:15 - 16:00

A tour of three buildings: The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre, Gradel Quadrangles New College and the Life and Mind Building.

Draft Programme:

Arrival & Refreshments 09.15 to 09.30
Schwarzman Building 09.45 to 11.00
Gradel Quadrangles New College 11.30 to 13:00
Lunch 13:00 to 13.45
Life and Mind Building 14.00 to 15.30
Refreshments and cake 15.30 to 16.00 
Close of day 16.00

Life and Mind Building and the Schwarzman Centre

Life and Mind Building and the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities. These are both transformative facilities for teaching, research and public engagement. They bring together new academic communities and provide the setting for world-changing breakthroughs. They collectively add truly remarkable things to the estate – everything from lecture theatres and cafes to a 500-seat concert hall, a theatre, rooftop greenhouses and exceptional new herbarium facilities to unite all the University’s historic plant collections.

Gradel Quadrangles New College

David Kohn Architects' competition-winning scheme for a new campus for New College, Oxford, officially opened in April 2024, marking a significant milestone for the project, named the Gradel Quadrangles after the principal donor.

New College was the site of the first planned quad in 1403, a model that has influenced educational institutions globally for over six hundred years. The leafy semi-suburban site offers the opportunity to reimagine the quad as a model for a learning community for the twenty-first century - departing from the quad’s closed origins and seeking a contemporary interpretation that enjoys a fluid and open relationship with the surrounding city and nature. Alongside new 94 new student rooms, the project includes shared kitchens, a music hall, and dedicated student study space. New facilities for the adjacent New College School, a boys’ preparatory school, adjoin the main building. A tower, housing a new charitable institute, and gatehouse complete the composition.

Speakers: Trevor Payne, University of Oxford, David Kohn, David Kohn Architects and NBBJ Design.

The University Design Forum extend its thanks to the host and supporters:

University of Oxford including The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre, New College, Oxford, and the LaMB with Hopkins Architects, David Kohn Architects and NBBJ Design.