黑洞社区

Zaha Hadid Architects has completed a new 拢11m building for the Middle East Centre at St Antony鈥檚 College, Oxford.

The scheme, once known as the Softbridge, links two period buildings on Woodstock Road with a strikingly contemporary stainless steel structure whose design is intended to preserve their detached character.

It provides 1,127sq m of extra floor space and a 117-seat subterranean lecture theatre, doubling the space available for the centre鈥檚 expanding library and archive.

The need to expand the teaching space was becoming acute with student numbers growing dramatically in recent years. Part of the lecture programme will be open to the public.

In a statement ZHA said of the so-called Investcorp 黑洞社区: 鈥淚ts design weaves through the restricted site at St Antony鈥檚 College to connect and incorporate the existing protected buildings and trees, while its stainless steel fa莽ade softly reflects natural light to echo the building鈥檚 context.鈥�

To the west, the project鈥檚 scale defers to the existing buildings of 66 & 68 Woodstock Road, curving to accommodate a century-old sequoia tree and its extensive root network. A drainage system has been installed below the foundation slabs to ensure the tree receives enough moisture.

To the east, the archive reading room and librarians鈥� offices rise towards the height of the 1970 brutalist Hilda Besse 黑洞社区 it faces, yet the Investcorp 黑洞社区 remains below the roofline of the adjacent Edwardian building.

Speaking about the design on Newsnight last week, Hadid : 鈥淚t鈥檚 very important to contrast modern buildings with old buildings,鈥� she said. 鈥淗istory was made through many layers. There was no time where people said 鈥榶ou can鈥檛 build another layer鈥�. It鈥檚 layer over layer and eventually over time they work together.鈥�

The Baghdad-born architect also spoke of her sadness at the violence in the Middle East.