New College Oxford
An institutional entry facade precedent combining a vertical sandstone tower with playful, curved masonry detailing for a collegiate context.
- What we like about this project
- The topmost window on the tower transitions abruptly into an unexpected hexagonal opening.
Materials
- sandstone
- pink-stone
- glass
- wrought-iron
Visual identifiers
- sandstone-tower
- curved-gateway
- punched-windows
- masonry-arch
Style tags
- postmodern
- contextual
- institutional
Visual tags
- collegiate
- gateway
- masonry
- asymmetrical
- institutional
- Geometry
- An asymmetrical vertical tower with curved edges and irregularly stacked window openings rises behind a sweeping, curved gateway wall that anchors the composition horizontally.
- Facade system
- Stone masonry cladding with expressed piers and punched window openings.
- Structural guess
- Load-bearing masonry and steel-frame interior floor plates.
- Spatial scale
- Multi-story tower scale juxtaposed with a welcoming pedestrian-scaled gateway arch at street level.
- Lighting
- Bright daylight with clear blue sky, casting soft shadows across the curved masonry surfaces and highlighting the textural panels of the tower.
- Atmosphere
- Wry, historical yet contemporary dignity framed by natural stone and greenery.
- Environmental context
- Set within a mature collegiate landscape with dense surrounding trees and historic neighboring buildings.
- Spatial experience
- The composition frames a formal threshold, drawing the eye from the horizontal boundary wall up through the arched gateway and vertically along the slender tower.
- Composition rhythm
- Vertical stacking of varied windows counterbalanced by the broad, sweeping horizontal arch of the entrance wall.
- Style reading
- Postmodern contextual institutional architecture
- Program
- Collegiate gatehouse and accommodation tower
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- sandstone, pink-stone, glass, wrought-iron
- Visual identifiers
- sandstone-tower, curved-gateway, punched-windows, masonry-arch
- Style tags
- postmodern, contextual, institutional
- Visual tags
- collegiate, gateway, masonry, asymmetrical, institutional
- Geometry
- An asymmetrical vertical tower with curved edges and irregularly stacked window openings rises behind a sweeping, curved gateway wall that anchors the composition horizontally.
- Facade system
- Stone masonry cladding with expressed piers and punched window openings.
- Structural guess
- Load-bearing masonry and steel-frame interior floor plates.
- Spatial scale
- Multi-story tower scale juxtaposed with a welcoming pedestrian-scaled gateway arch at street level.
- Lighting
- Bright daylight with clear blue sky, casting soft shadows across the curved masonry surfaces and highlighting the textural panels of the tower.
- Atmosphere
- Wry, historical yet contemporary dignity framed by natural stone and greenery.
- Environmental context
- Set within a mature collegiate landscape with dense surrounding trees and historic neighboring buildings.
- Spatial experience
- The composition frames a formal threshold, drawing the eye from the horizontal boundary wall up through the arched gateway and vertically along the slender tower.
- Composition rhythm
- Vertical stacking of varied windows counterbalanced by the broad, sweeping horizontal arch of the entrance wall.
- Style reading
- Postmodern contextual institutional architecture
- Program
- Collegiate gatehouse and accommodation tower
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture