Higher Education Estates May/June 2024

design solutions

Stunning transformation of Rhodes House Beard Construction, working to the designs of Stanton Williams, has carried out a stunning transformation of Rhodes House in Oxford, the home of world-renowned educational charity the Rhodes Trust

T HE £26m construction project, which started in November 2020, extended and restructured the basement of the Class A, Grade II*-listed building to create three new basements housing a 300-capacity, state-of-the-art conference centre, new guest bedrooms and new office spaces. The project also saw the creation of a magnificent, 5m-high structural-glass pavilion, big enough to house 50 people. The pavilion’s green roof sits on a curved, structural timber lattice, which sits on all glass walls with no steel supports. The pavilion is heated by a trench heater which skirts the base of the glass and the temperature is regulated by automatic solar shading blinds. Using innovative technologies, the Pavilion also acts as a 'solar collector'. Excess heat is extracted by fan-coil units concealed in the joinery wall and is either stored or immediately used elsewhere in the building for heating and hot water. The fan coil units also cool the Pavilion to a comfortable temperature, while the captured heat is then either stored or

allow audiences from around the world to participate and collaborate virtually. The high-spec, state-of-the-art audio visual facilities include a video wall made from eight 92-inch high-definition screens and joinery which conceals speakers and microphones – allowing seamless audience participation. A new post-tension, solid stone spiral staircase has been installed inside an existing marble-clad rotunda, providing impressive access from the ground level to the foyer of the new conference centre. Held within the existing arches by a compression ring, the staircase is held together by three tensioned steel cables. The staircase connects to a new foyer with areas to display public art. The new basement provides 16 new ensuite guest bedrooms in a sunken residential courtyard and open-plan office space for up to 70 staff, freeing up former office space in the existing building for scholars. The walls and floors of the new double height basements were formed from reinforced in-situ concrete with a high

immediately used elsewhere in the adjacent historic building for heating and hot water. The building’s East Wing has been refurbished, returning it to its original residential use, providing 21 en-suite bedrooms. All-new commercial catering facilities were also installed in two new kitchens. The work also included new wiring and heating for the entire building as well as the cleaning and repair of the original Blenheim-stone exterior. The conference centre uses the latest in digital infrastructure and technology to

26 higher education estates