East Range project complete as academic year begins

After two years, meals are now once again being held in the Grade I-listed Hall, built during the reign of Charles I. The food is prepared by chefs in reconstructed kitchens outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment and air source heat pumps for improved energy efficiency.

Lord Mendoza, the chair of Historic England, said the project is “of lasting value” for Oriel College, where he attended as a student and is now the Provost, “and will stand for generations to come”. “The experience,” he added, “of dining, living and studying in this historic environment is part of what makes being a student here incomparable to anything else.”

Mendoza also said he is grateful for the support for the project from staff and students and for the tireless work of everyone involved to minimise the disruption to collegiate life.

There have been careful changes to the overall layout of the premises, such as a new passage connecting the refurbished beer cellar to Hall and three accessible lifts to ensure that everyone can easily go between different levels.

The spaces are also elevated by new creative commissions, including a floor tiled mosaic at the top of the Pugin stairs from the beer cellar to the Hall. Additionally, a parish marker of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin has been “sensitively relocated” to the wall beside the mosaic, and a feet flagstone from 1674 is set into the wall at the half-landing of the staircase.

The parish marker was relocated following consultation with the University Church, the local conservation officer and Historic England.

Below ground, the beer cellar has been extended to accommodate an increased capacity. The new design also incorporates alcove seating plus a darts board, sound system and large TV screen.

Meanwhile additional measures to improve the energy efficiency of the buildings include secondary glazing and low energy lighting in the kitchens, heat recovery units in the toilets, and increased thermal insulation. Colin Bailey, the Master of Works, said that sustainability was considered throughout the project.

Margaret Jones, the Treasurer, described the project as a tremendous success. She also commented on the considerable financial costs, saying: “Repairs and improvements to our important heritage buildings are complex and expensive since work must be done with the utmost care to protect the historical character that makes Oxford such a beautiful city.”

She said that “while we are fortunate to have an endowment which enables us to provide the tutorial system of teaching at no added cost to students”, the renovations still strained available finances as “one of our largest investments of the past 100 years”.

The College secured a long-term loan to help meet the project cost and also benefitted from millions of pounds contributed by alumni and friends.

For the duration that work to refurbish the beer cellar and rebuild the kitchens has been ongoing, dining took place in the curious location of the Senior Library.

To accommodate dining in the Senior Library, temporary kitchen facilities were erected on the lawn in Second Quad. These have now been removed, exposing a grateful wisteria to the sun once again, and the lawn will soon be returfed.

To remove the temporary facilities, they needed to be lifted out of Second Quad and over the Provost’s Lodgings by a 250-tonne crane which was stationed in Oriel Square for two days in late September.

During 2026, the Senior Library, no longer furnished with dining tables and benches, is going to be used as a multi-functional events and exhibition space. A project to restore and upgrade the library will then begin in 2027.

Before the library began being used as a dining hall, its collection of rare books and manuscripts was decanted to secure external facilities. Specialist conservators were also brought in to survey and stabilise the collection.

The oldest books in the Senior Library collection date from 15th century. They were printed in the decades following the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg.

Oriel College also owns several much older manuscripts, including two that date back as far back as the 11th and 12th centuries which are currently held by the Bodleian Libraries.