British architecture studio Stanton Williams has refurbished and extended the Grade II*-listed Rhodes House at the University of Oxford, adding a lantern-like glazed pavilion for events.
Originally designed by architect Herbert Baker and completed in 1929, Rhodes House has historically housed events, accommodation and archive spaces, set amid landscaped gardens in Oxford's city centre.
Tasked with doubling the usable space of the site as well as bringing its environmental performance up to modern standards, Stanton Williams reconfigured the building's layout while retaining its historic character.
Stanton Williams added a glazed pavilion space for events
"The spatial and environmental performance of Rhodes House no longer met the needs of its host organisation," Stanton Williams associate Tom Fotheringham told Dezeen. "To allow the Trust to evolve while remaining within its historic premises, we had to find ways to double Rhodes House's usable space and provide new conference facilities, new working accommodation for staff and scholars, and new residential uses," he added.
In the biggest alteration to the site, a previously restricted archive space on the lower ground floor has been converted into a 300-seat conference hall and foyer, accessed via a newly created spiral stone staircase in the Rotunda and illuminated by high-level windows.
The studio retained the Grade II*-listed building's original character
Forming a new "sculpture" at the mai...