Rick Mather Architects have been chosen to redevelop the 1.7-acre Acland Hospital Site for Keble College extending from the Banbury to Woodstock Roads in central Oxford.

Rick Mather Architects were selected following a competition against a strong field of candidates and included the finalists Dixon Jones, KPF Architects, Rafael Vinoly and Wilkinson Eyre Architects.
The brief called for a challenging mix of facilities that combines residential, communal, teaching and research facilities into a single complex. It is virtually a small college with 250 rooms, café, library, teaching rooms and research facilities.

The strategy developed by Rick Mather Architects maximises the use of the entire site. By developing around the perimeter of the site, it follows Keble's original Butterfield approach, creating a large central open space - Keble's 'Sixth Quad'

Keble College's bursar Roger Boden said: "Rick Mather Architects have already designed two award winning buildings for Keble of which we are very proud. However we felt that, for such an important project, it was essential to have an open competition. That process took five months and resulted in five very strong and very different final proposals. We spent over a month evaluating these and, in the event, the Jury Panel of ten were unanimous in their choice. The winning proposal offers a 21st Century reinterpretation of the traditional Oxford Quad that meets or exceeds all elements of the brief."

1 August 2006