Alison Brooks Architects (ABA), led by Canadian ex-pat Alison Brooks, has delivered the first dedicated social learning space to Oxford University to be integrated within a new collegiate building.
Cohen Quad, the new ‘campus in a building’ for Exeter College, was awarded to ABA through a competition for the project and is Oxford’s first academic and residential quadrangle to be designed by a female architect.
Cohen Quad aims to transform the traditional typology of a four-sided quadrangle into two quads enclosed within an S-shaped building. These two courtyards are located at the north and south ends of the narrow site, with adjacent cloisters that open into Oxford University’s first social learning space, the Learning Commons.
The Cohen Quad project reimagines Oxford College as a modern home for students and teachers. The building’s light-filled spaces aim to create visual connections and facilitate the exchange of ideas both within the spaces as well as with the city.
“Windows and views in every corner and at every turning make one feel like a secret spectator of the beauty of the surrounding city”, said Dame Frances Cairncross, former Rector of Exeter College.
The £29.5 million project was fully funded through Exeter College’s fundraising program, and was successfully completed in 2020.
The building contains a mix of spaces, such as a double-height café-restaurant, seminar rooms, offices and facilities like laundry, IT, housekeeping, and prep kitchens. Fitzhugh Auditorium, a 110-seat multi-purpose event space is located at the north-west corner of the building. Cohen Quad also contains the College’s Special Collections Archive which was designed to the British Standard for the storage and exhibition of archival documents.
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