Our journey to reimagine Rhodes House
Reimagining Rhodes House has been a multi-year journey from planning to building and completition. It is more than a building project, is is a central plank of the Rhodes Trust's mission to become an ever more open and inclusive community dedicated to working towards a better world.
Rhodes House before the Big Build
Discussions and feasibility studies to expand and reinvent Rhodes House began in 2017, with the aim of better accomodating the huge range of Scholar activities at Rhodes House, updating its aging infastructure and creating space for the world-changing conversations for which the Rhodes community is renowned.
Following extensive easibility studies, Stanton Williams were appointed as architects in November 2017 and Stage 1 proposals were provided for Trustees' approval in June 2018.
Planning permission was granted in 2020.
Architect's rendering of the new Rhodes House residential courtyard.
Staircase to the Rhodes House basement
Building work commenced at Rhodes House in 2020, and inbcluded extensive archaelogical works in the gardens, yielding new evidence of Oxford's Civil War past
The project involved major excavations at the Rhodes House site, including breaking through the "Giant's Grave", the roof of the Rhodes House basement, formerly used as a book store for the Bodlean Library.
An excavator breaking through the "Giant's Grave"
Excavating the site of the Rhodes House residential courtyard
Building work created an earth sheltered courtyard for accomodation at Rhodes House. Protected in the background are the Civil War ramparts, which have been preserved and form a prominent part of the new Rhodes House gardens.
Outdated services within Rhodes House have been replaced with low-energy, efficient alternatives, carefully preserving the fabric of the historic Arts and Crafts interior and exterior.
Services at Rhodes House