The public will have their first opportunity to get a close-up view of the rapid progress being made on the construction of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities on Saturday 9th September. The project is taking part in the Oxford Open Doors weekend which is organised by the Oxford Preservation Trust.
BY ADAM SAXON
This will be just the first stage of construction that the local Oxford community will be able to view over the coming years, as the site is also planned to be open for next year’s Open Doors event. The building is on schedule to be completed in summer 2025 and it will open its doors to the public shortly afterwards.
This year, those who attend will be greeted by an awe-inspiring sight: the huge double height basement level of the project, which will eventually house facilities including the 500-seater concert hall, 250-seater theatre, rehearsal hall, “Black Box” space for experimental performances, and more. The vastness of the project, however, will not just be reinforced by looking down, but also by visitors looking up. On display will be the two huge tower cranes that have been used in the early stages of construction and have dominated the North Oxford skyline in recent months. This is the largest single building project the university has ever taken on, so it is perhaps unsurprising that visitors will feel dwarfed by its scale.
As well as the scale of the project, the open days will give visitors a sense of the other key aspects of the Schwarzman Centre project. An important focus of the plans of the new building are in its environmental commitments. For example, the site is powered entirely by electricity and recycled vegetable oil. The commitment to a new era of university buildings will continue as the project goes on with modern technologies like heat pumps, high levels of insulation, and the promotion of biodiversity through green spaces. Built to Passivhaus standards, it is envisaged that the project will set the standard expected in years to come for new developments.
Professor William Whyte, an Oxford University historian and Chair of the Project Board for the project, said: “This is a project that from the beginning has been intended to reinforce the link between the University and the wider Oxford community, and the Open Doors event is a chance to show the central role that the community will continue to play now and into the future. The building will be the largest covered space in Oxford that isn’t a shopping centre, and will provide cafés, reading space and an exhibition hall among other attractions to visitors. The Open Doors event continues the long tradition that the Schwarzman centre project has established of consulting and including locals in every step. For this reason, we would be delighted to see as many people come along as possible.”
All in all, it is hoped that this opportunity to see the site’s progress for the first time will be an interesting proposition for the public, especially as a place that will be part of the lives of members of the local community. In a world where those with a love for the humanities would be forgiven for feeling they are under threat, this vital new investment seeks to affirm the place of its disciplines at the heart of both the university and the community for the years to come. This event is just the start of that relationship.
You can find the full programme for Oxford Open Doors on the Oxford Preservation Trust website.
