Back to school: We visit Zaha Hadid’s new Middle East Centre at Oxford University

Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Thank you for signing up to Wallpaper. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Oxford University has a tradition of commissioning exceptional modern architecture, from Niall McLaughlin's award winning 2011 Somerville College student accommodation, to design classics like Arne Jacobsen's St Catherine's College. The new Investcorp Building for the school's Middle East Centre at St Antony's College is the campus' latest addition. The stainless steel-clad, shiny, flowing piece is a confident departure from traditional Oxford's material palette of brick and stone - but one would expect nothing less from its acclaimed architect, Zaha Hadid.
Opened in 1957, the centre announced plans for a new building on its 50th anniversary, responding to a growing need for space. This addition represents a contemporary vision of what an Oxford building could look like, says the Centre's Director Eugene Rogan. 'Does it reflect the Middle East?' he asks. 'It is all about the 21st century.' While being a break from traditional forms of Middle Eastern architecture, the building's contemporary nature represents the present and future of the region, hinting to the area's current growth and ongoing change. And it feels at home in Oxford, continues Rogan, where modern architecture sits side by side with historical work.
The twisting form is compact, yet clever arrangement and an immaculately detailed interior makes it feel sharp, bright and generous. It touches its two Victorian neighbours - also part of the Centre's complex - but features its own independent entrance off the street, through a courtyard, past the 2013 Bennetts-designed Gateway Buildings and the Grade II Listed Hilda Besse Building by Howell, Killick, Partridge and Amis (1970-71). Surroundings were key, explains Project Director at Zaha Hadid Architects Jim Heverin: 'The university was keen that the building is both subservient and clearly contemporary.' It was, for example, designed around a preserved, mature tree sitting in the street-facing garden.
And this is not a building just for Oxford's community of scholars. 'It has been created to be open to the public,' says Rogan. 'It has all our public programs: archives, library, lecture theatre.' The ground floor features a café and concealed kitchen (this is also the space that is the most open towards the street, its front clad in glass), as well as the lobby to the building's dramatic undulating central staircase.
This leads a floor down, to a minimal, oak-clad auditorium with some 120 felt-covered seats, and a set of state-of-the-art archive rooms; and up, to two upper floors of library space, brightly lit through the entrance side's glass elevation (treated so as to control heat and light and protect the precious books and manuscripts handled inside). A series of punctures on the brilliant white ceiling create a composition of skylights, which flood the interior with natural light as well as hint at their architect's trademark architectural curves.
The building's long, shiny and curvaceous form was designed to respect its environment, but at the same time be distinctly contemporary
The Zaha Hadid-designed addition touches its two Victorian neighbors, but has its own separate entrance
The main entrance is tucked away at the back of the complex, off the main street
To reach it, visitors go through a courtyard and between existing buildings, such as the Gateway Buildings by Bennetts and the Hilda Besse Building by Howell, Killick, Partridge and Amis
In contrast to its Victorian neighbours, the new structure is clad in glass and stainless steel
A mature tree at the site's street-facing garden was protected, so the building was designed to curve around it
The open, garden-facing ground floor space houses a cafe, complete with a cleverly concealed kitchen area
A main, elaborate, twisting staircase connects all the building's floors
The first floor provides space for the Centre's library and reading rooms...
...beautifully lit by a series of smooth, curvy punctures on the ceiling
The same staircase leads down to the lower ground level, which contains the centre's archive rooms...
..as well as a state of the art auditorium for lectures and events
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture Editor at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018) and Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020).
-
São Paulo Biennial 2023: activism, repressed cultures and South America’s art history under the lens
The 35th São Paulo Biennial considers ‘Choreographies of the Impossible’ as the theme. Amah-Rose Abrams reports on what to see
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
Jacqueline Rabun’s sculptural jewellery design goes on show in London
‘Jacqueline Rabun: A Retrospective’ opens at London’s Carpenters Workshop Gallery
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Tokujin Yoshioka’s flaming glass cauldron sets Tokyo alight
Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka plays with fire with an exhibition of glass torches and cauldrons, on view at 21_21 Design Sight Gallery 3 in Tokyo (until 5 November 2023)
By Danielle Demetriou Published
-
UCL East Marshgate seeks to redefine the university campus of the future
UCL East Marshgate by Stanton Williams is completed and gears up to welcome its students in east London
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
St Catharine’s College social hub in Cambridge reimagined by Gort Scott
Gort Scott's design for St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, gives a sensitive facelift to a much loved, bustling campus
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Two Hands nursery by vPPR is where design flair meets sustainability
Two Hands nursery in London, designed by vPPR, mixes colourful interiors and sustainable architecture elements with wellbeing in mind
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
SANAA’s Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design is designed to connect with the heart of Jerusalem
SANAA and local studio HQ Architects design new home for Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem's city centre
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
Connected Rural Classroom reimagines learning space architecture
A collaboration between design studio Kurani and nonprofit Ed Farm reimagines learning spaces through virtual teaching with the Connected Rural Classroom
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
DS+R Prior Performing Arts Center is designed as a public commons
Prior Performing Arts Center by Diller Scofidio + Renfro completes at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts
By Stephen Zacks Last updated
-
Mérida university architecture draws on the local climate
Ignacio Urquiza Arquitectos completes the new home for the School of Business and Banking, located to the north of Mérida, Mexico
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
Roca celebrates Zaha Hadid Design in London
New exhibition celebrates Roca London Gallery's tenth anniversary and the work of Zaha Hadid Design (ZHD)
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated