Sir Thomas White Building

This scheme covers five floors, with eleven pavilions, arranged in an "L" shape, linked by service towers, providing approximately 150 student rooms. Each pavilion contains four rooms per floor and features a white pre-cast concrete exoskelton, which is contrasted by the solid walls of the service towers. On the north elevation the twinned columns straddle the college wall on Lamb and Flag Passage. A similar set-back device on the inner elevations creates a colonnaded ground floor that allows access to the stairs. Behind the exoskeleton lies the glazing to each room, situated at the corners, and behind this, a set of sliding timber screens adds to the layering of the façade. This project dates from a time when Arup Associates were at their peak and demonstrates their impeccable design and detailing qualities. Here they produced a building that successfully reinterprets the traditional "Oxbridge" quad in a contemporary manner yet possesses a rare sensitivity and respect for context.