{"id":18779,"date":"2018-04-20T17:14:13","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T16:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ihbconline.co.uk\/newsachive\/?p=18779"},"modified":"2018-04-20T17:14:13","modified_gmt":"2018-04-20T16:14:13","slug":"ihbcs-heritage-from-the-doorstep-kooky-development-backed-by-heritage-groups-but-fears-over-tower-height","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=18779","title":{"rendered":"IHBC\u2019s \u2018Heritage from the doorstep\u2019: ‘Kooky’ development backed by heritage groups but fears over tower height\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Oxford<\/a>‘The \u2018crazy and kooky\u2019 redevelopment of a college and school has been backed by heritage groups but has sparked concerns over buildings breaching the city\u2019s height limits’, according to a report in the Oxford Mail<\/em>.<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

The Oxford Mail<\/em> writes:<\/p>\n

New College School, in Savile Road, wants to demolish its school hall, Warham House, and part of Savile House to build a music hall, study space, porter\u2019s lodge, accommodation for pupils and a dining hall. The curved and wavy stone buildings were described as \u2018unusual\u2019 by Historic England, but the organisation ultimately backed the designs. Oxford Preservation Trust noted the scheme\u2019s 25 metre tower was above the 18.2 metre limit in the city.<\/p>\n

Director Debbie Dance said: \u2018We have no doubt about the intention of the college, not only to create something extraordinary but also to do so to the highest quality. These proposals are not alone and the proposed 25m tower, in particular, follows the recent trend among the colleges to signal their presence in this way putting forward towers and high buildings which openly exceed the height limit.\u2019<\/p>\n

The trust called for Oxford City Council to consider whether the public benefits outweighed the breach. Plans to demolish St Hilda\u2019s College, in Cowley Place, and build a new block containing 59 student bedrooms, a common room and office, was approved last month. But the project\u2019s 19.3m illuminated tower will be reconsidered once more information is provided.<\/p>\n

New College\u2019s 25 metre tower would sit one metre higher than Saxon Tower at St Michael\u2019s in Cornmarket Street and one metre lower than New College Bell Tower. St Mary\u2019s Church in High Street \u2013 54.8m \u2013 Tom Tower in St Aldate\u2019s \u2013 45.7m \u2013 and Magdalen Tower \u2013 44m \u2013 are the highest points in the city.<\/p>\n

The Victorian group of the Oxford Architectural History Society said: \u2018The architects seem to have overdosed on expressionism and this random and frantic style would look crazy in Oxford.<\/p>\n

It is impractical, with its kooky plan, restless windows and rooms of wildly varying shapes and sizes.\u2019<\/p>\n

But Historic England said: \u2018The proposed buildings are unusual, quite unlike anything currently in Oxford, but we are convinced that the architectural concept is very good\u2019.<\/p>\n

Oxford Civic Society\u2019s head of planning John Goddard said the design was \u2018welcoming and refreshing\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n

Read more….<\/a><\/p>\n

For background see the Oxford Preservation Trust website<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘The \u2018crazy and kooky\u2019 redevelopment of a college and school has been backed by heritage groups but has sparked concerns over buildings breaching the city\u2019s height limits’, according to a report in the Oxford Mail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sector-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18779"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18781,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18779\/revisions\/18781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}