BAM renews partnership with Zaha Hadid at the University of Oxford
Hemel Hempstead, 8 February 2013 - BAM is to build a futuristic addition to the University of Oxford’s Middle East Centre at St Antony’s College. The contractor is due to start on site this month to deliver the £11 million Softbridge building. The building has been designed by world famous architect Dame Zaha Hadid, who worked with BAM on the award-winning Riverside Transport Museum in Glasgow.
The building contains three levels and a basement. It will feature a library and reading room; an auditorium with translation facilities; a café; and specialist archive storage rooms for precious College resources. Sited between two listed buildings, it will enhance and enlarge the facilities available to students and post-graduates within the university’s Middle East Centre.
Hadid’s use of glass curtain walling and spectacular steel cladding will make the building a landmark within the renowned university and historic city. FSC-approved timber will be used for sustainability.
BAM has a strong track record in Oxford and will work with suppliers that it used on the Ashmolean Museum project.
BAM’s construction manager Anthony Nagle said: ‘We are delighted to be working with such universally respected architects as Zaha Hadid, and look forward to the challenge of making their stunning vision a reality. This project will provide first class learning facilities for the Middle East Centre at Oxford University while acting as a landmark befitting of the institution. We will ensure the scheme also benefits the local economy and environment.’
Work is due for completion in August 2014, ahead of the 2014/15 academic year.
Further information: Mark Slattery, press and media manager, 01442 238415.