Design Engine have been commissioned by Oxford Brookes University to produce a new masterplan for their Headington Campus and to design a series of interconnecting projects as the first phase of its delivery. The 20,000 sqm scheme was won by invited competition with six other British practices and was submitted for planning to Oxford City Council in 2009, with completion due in 2012. This forms part of the University’s progressive ‘Space to Think’ initiative. Accommodation includes a new library, lecture theatres, student services centre, teaching acommodation and commercial/retail space.
The proposed skin of the building will be instrumental both in knitting the campus together in a homogenous way and in creating a range of environments conducive to each unique use.
Conceptually, it is our intention that the skin can be used in some way to refer to the values of Oxford Brookes University. As an inspiration, detailed research has been undertaken to incorporate images of the cellular structure of trees into the building skin in reference to the University’s strong environmental ethos.
Poetically, the tree cell structure images refer to the building blocks of the natural environment, and therefore the comprehension of the building’s design evolution through rigorous scientific research.
