a+u Feature on Somerville College Accommodation

A+U FEATURE ON SOMERVILLE COLLEGE ACCOMMODATION

MAY 2014

The Japanese journal a+u has published an account of the practice’s student accommodation for Somerville College, Oxford. The theme of this month’s publication is ‘New Landscapes of Wooden Architecture’ and features an international selection of projects that explore new aspects of wood technology and its potential within cities. The article gives a description on the themes and processes behind the project, placing it within the context of the historic university city and the surrounding Radcliffe Infirmary Quarter.

It is illustrated with working details of the bespoke timber glazing for the stair tower lanterns, as well as the prefabricated timber projecting bay window units for the student bedrooms, with their integral desk and bench seat overlooking the street.

‘We chose to make the glazed elements in the stair towers and student rooms in wood because we wanted them to be like warm lanterns, internally lit in the evening, bringing light to the narrow street…Wood allowed us to make more three-dimensional details…we owe a debt to Louis Kahn’s work at Philip Exeter Academy Library.’ NM

STIRLING PRIZE SHORTLIST MEDIA COVERAGE

SEPTEMBER 2013

In a conversation on BBC Radio 4‘s Front Row, journalist and broadcaster Tom Dyckhoff has described this year’s Stirling Prize shortlist as representing “a completely new outlook on architecture…the voice of a new generation.” Together with architect and chair of the judges Philip Gumunchidan, the two critics reflected on what the shortlist says about the state of British architecture and the growing appetite for commissioning innovative contemporary buildings. During the broadcast, Front Row’s John Wilson described the chapel as an “absolutely stunningly beautiful” geometric structure.

To listen to the conversation in full visit:

Link to the BBC Radio 4

For other media coverage on the Bishop Edward King Chapel’s shortlisting for the Stirling Prize visit:

Link to BBC News
Link to the Evening Standard
Link to the The Guardian