After two years of inspired design, meticulous planning and ambitious execution, St Edward’s School in Oxford has opened its world-class new Academic Centre to pupils, bringing vitality to the forward-looking and dynamic academic culture at the school.
The development provides state-of-the-art learning spaces, designed for the modern way in which young people learn, enabling them to discover new ways to work together, think together and be together.
[ABOVE] Take a virtual guided tour of the new centre, and hear about its alignment with the school’s academic culture, with St Edward’s warden Stephen Jones and deputy head academic Matthew Albrighton.
Space to collaborate
The main academic facility – The Christie Centre – houses a modern and bright library where pupils can collaborate on ideas and discussion, with breakout spaces available for stimulating meetings. The Oxley Library sits alongside flexible classroom spaces that can be shrunk or enlarged as needed, and the stunning collegiate-style Roe Reading Room, reminiscent of an Oxford College, sits on the top floor, encouraging quiet and thoughtful study.
The Olivier Hall, named after one of St Edward’s most famous alumni, seats 1,000 and will allow the growing St Edward’s School community to come together for concerts, performances and countless other events. It has been designed as a professional class acoustic space, and the school hopes to extend its use beyond the immediate school community.
Deputy head academic Matthew Albrighton said: “This building is already having a phenomenal impact on the way our pupils are learning and is starting to shape the future of learning at St Edward’s.”
High-quality build
This major development, at the very heart of the school’s Victorian Quad, is the culmination of a two-year project, and has been described by the Oxford Design Review Panel as ‘High Quality Architecture’.
Take a look at the facilities at St Edward’s School below:
St Edward’s warden Stephen Jones commented: “It’s been absolutely wonderful to open the building this term and bring it to life with pupils and teachers. We designed this building specially because of the way in which pupils learn has been changing, [so] we’ve designed all the study spaces – within the Library, within the Reading Room within the study decks and classrooms – to bring to life that new approach to learning.”
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