Delighted to see Gradel Court, New College Oxford honoured with a 2026 UK RIBA South Award. Congratulations to the whole team.
We are proud to be part of a team which has delivered a project for one of the University of Oxford’s oldest colleges. The project consists of three different parts: a two-storey building for New College School providing classrooms, dining and performance halls; housing for 94 student bedrooms with pastoral facilities; and a 21.5m tall tower which provides offices for the Gradel Institute of Charity.
Gradel Court is the university’s first curved quad, for this load-bearing, curved façade we designed, supplied and installed our Ancaster Weatherbed stone, set in a diamond pattern. Our Cove red sandstone is set as a serrated design which traces the roofline, with an undulating rhythm echoed in the tiling that clads the rounded roof. The same sandstone was also detailed around the doors and windows and was specified for the gatehouse.
The jury noted
‘The design, materials and expression of the new buildings creatively reinterpret historical forms and typologies, employing artisanal craft and stonemasonry, combined with contemporary technologies and manufacturing.’
David Kohn Architects
Sir Robert McAlpine
Fergus Wessell
Purcell
Toureen Group
Price & Myers
Skelly & Couch
Ridge and Partners LLP
