05 Mar 07

Oxford University is inviting the public to join in the consultation process on two masterplans at the heart of the city, the Radcliffe Infirmary site and the Science Area.

Between 5 March and 20 April 2007, Oxford residents will have an opportunity to attend presentations and exhibitions detailing proposed schemes for these developments, and give their views.

The two plans envisage developments which will be crucial to the University's future by creating new space for the University's successful and ever expanding research.

The RI site, only recently vacated by the National Health Service, will see a major redevelopment which proposes to put some of the most beautiful buildings in Oxford into a new context. The proposed scheme, developed by architect Rafael Viñoly, focuses the whole site on the Radcliffe Observatory by creating avenues which will open up previously hidden views to the public.

The Radcliffe Infirmary masterplan proposes a mix of building heights of three, four and five storeys, which will add to the interest of the skyline. Once the development is complete, it will create 100,000m² of space - nearly twice as much space as is currently used on the site. This is mainly due to extensive use of underground space - a proposed interdisciplinary library will be two storeys' deep underground, with a view of the Radcliffe Observatory through a crescent-shaped glass wall.

New cycle and pedestrian routes will enable the public to walk across the site from Woodstock Road to Walton Street.

The development is expected to include a building for the Primary Care Trust, with building planned to start at the end of this year. A building for the Mathematical Institute is also planned.

The grade 2*-listed Infirmary building on Woodstock Road will be preserved and will continue to be the main frontage of the site.

Buildings to house Humanities Faculties which will include Philosophy, Theology, English, Oriental Studies, Linguistics and History with an interdisciplinary library to link the faculties are also planned.

Mr Donald Hay, Acting Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Planning and Resource Allocation) said: 'It is important to realise that the masterplan does not actually suggest specific designs of specific buildings. It sets out a scheme for long-term development, which specifies boulevards, through-routes and heights of buildings, so that development will not occur in a piecemeal fashion.'

The masterplan of the University's Science Area, in contrast, sets out a redevelopment of a built-up site which has grown over the last 150 years and is in need of updating. Many of the buildings in the area will need replacing over the next decades as they are no longer fit for current methods of science. A thorough refurbishment of the area's infrastructure, such as electricity, drains, sewers, roads and pavements is also due to meet the demands of 21^st century science research. The masterplan proposes systematic areas of development which takes new through-routes and sensitive environmental planning into account.

Mr Hay said: 'The University has benefited enormously from having its science departments together in a fairly confined space because it has produced far more interdisciplinary research and work than in many other places where the departments are isolated.

'We want to keep it that way and therefore need to give some thought to how best to update the area and the buildings within it.

'The fact that we are doing this reflects how successful the University has been at sustaining cutting-edge science research at Oxford. The benefits that come out of our research have, among other things, resulted in many spin-out companies which in turn benefit the area as a whole.'

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Dr John Hood, said: 'The redevelopments will mark not only mark the next period in teaching, research and discovery, but will be another step in the centuries-old relationship between the University and the City. The University is a custodian of much of Oxford's built environment. Redeveloping these central sites will enhance the architecture of the City for all its residents. The plans for the two sites are of the utmost importance to Oxford. They have my full support.'

As well as individual discussions and presentations with particular groups, including local interest groups and residents' associations, there wil be a number of exhibitions and presentations for the wider public on the following days:

5 March 2007: Oxford University Press,
exhibition 11am-8pm, presentation 1-2pm

12 March 2207: University Museum,
exhibition 11am-8pm, presentation 1-2pm

20 March 2007: Saïd Business School,
exhibition 11am-8pm, presentation 1-2pm

19 April 2007: Saïd Business School,
exhibition 11am-8pm, presentation 1-2pm

The plans can also be viewed online, and the public is invited to give their comments in writing or by email.

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