St John´s College, Middle Common Room
The Middle Common Room at St John´s College in Oxford nestles within the heart of the campus and faces the powerful and award winning Thomas White Building designed by Philip Dowson. This central location placed very restrictive access constraints on the project. This, together with Dowson´s very muscular building, was a major influence on the design.
Constructed as an "air rights" building over existing squash courts, the Common Room provides a large social space, TV room, two quiet rooms and a computer room. Within a controlled steel, glass and stone envelope, a fluid arrangement of curved and coloured light-weight walls was developed to create interesting internal spaces.
