Two housing units have sprung up on the border of the college grounds and a new construction site to the north of the demolished Radcliffe Hospital. To close the blank wall facing the former hospital, Oxford University allocated a 175 m long and 6 m wide strip of land to the college for the construction of a dormitory. This made it possible to place on each floor only a corridor and students' rooms facing it from the north side.
The dorm's stair towers flank the new, northern entrance to the college complex, overlooking the Radcliffe Observatory, a classicist structure in the center of the new construction area.
When this construction is completed, the buildings of the hostel will completely form one of the sides of the narrow alley that runs along Somerville College, so the architects interpreted their appearance taking into account this urban planning situation. Each of the rooms is equipped with an oak "bay window", where a place for studies is arranged, and such a plastic solution of the facades made it possible to revive the view of the buildings in perspective.
The dorm received solar and rooftop batteries, a geothermal heating system, and improved shell insulation, which earned it a very good BREEAM certification.
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