London-based architecture studio AL_A has designed two buildings for the University of Oxford that are wrapped in aluminium and etched glass to mimic stone and reflect the site's historic setting.
The two interconnected buildings form part of the Wadham College campus and consist of an undergraduate centre that houses common and social spaces and work areas, and a new access centre for visiting school students.
Top: AL_A designed the new Wadham College buildings at the University of Oxford. Above: it clad the buildings in anodised aluminium
The campus is organised around a series of formal courtyards, which Amanda Levete Architects (AL_A), said have become disconnected over years.
The two new buildings aim to better connect the surrounding college buildings and recentre their quads, or courtyards, as the social centres of the campus. The new campus buildings were built on a courtyard
"We wanted to re-establish the original masterplan and the relationship between the quads, reconnecting the college physically and visually through improved connections and views through the buildings and between the quads," AL_A director Ho-Yin Ng told Dezeen.
"The quads are the social centres of the college, and we wanted to emphasise this by establishing a gathering space at the heart of the site, on the steps of the new connecting stairway up to the library terrace."
The design aims to mimic its surroundings but through a contemporary look
The two buildings are clad in g...