Rhodes House renovation – site tour, Oxford
Rhodes House is a university building in the centre of Oxford, home to postgraduates on a type of scholarship. It contains residential areas as well as conference and teaching and learning spaces. Despite the building being less than 100 years old, its style is more historic, with a design by Sir Herbert Baker which is reminiscent of 1600s Europe – to match much of the city’s university architecture.
As a listed building, it’s vital that the architecture is well-preserved. The idea of the project was, as a lead engineer described, to make it appear as if nothing had changed once the project is complete: most of the updates will be made underground, including a new conference room and new accessible lifts.
The tasks:
1. Install a spiral staircase into the rotunda
This is the rotunda from the basement. The celing must be drilled to form a hole leading to the ground floor, in which the staircase will be installed. The other challenge is the removal of the support columns – the weight they are currently carrying is minimal but the remaining concrete must be strong enough to hold as a kind of cantilever from the outer walls. Calculations predict that reinforcements will not be required, but this could change as the project progresses.
2. Preserve the strong masonry columns in the basement as a structural component, and line them up with those on the floors above
The original columns are extremely robust and strong so will continue to be used to hold the basement structure up. They will be refined and re-covered for aesthetic appeal.
3. Extend the basement: to create a large conference space and fire exits
The basement is extended using exposed reinforced concrete. There has been specially selected insulation installed for heat regulation; the holes you can see link to the ventilation and air conditioning system. The arch is an effective support structure; it also provides natural lighting for the conference space.
4. Construct sixteen new residential rooms in an excavated space, whilst allowing natural light in.
The rooms are dug underground. As well as being a space-saving solution, this is excellent for energy efficiency because the earth covering the rooms is a thick insulator, keeping rooms cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Spaces are fronted with solid oak doors and triple-glazed, full length windows; the walkway will be lined with trees down the middle to provide privacy.
5. Create a new outdoor social area
Above is the space where the social area will be – clearly, there is still work to do! On the left is a diagram of the small cafe structure, which will be used during events and conferences. I drew it out to try and visualise what had been explained by the lead engineer. Essentially a process called steam-bending will form timber into the right shape. This material takes the weight of the structure, which will be about four metres high. Weatherproof structural glass will be arranged in a facade around the edge, taking no weight but providing shelter from the weather on rainy, windy or cold days.