middle east center bridge building in oxford by zaha hadid breaks ground

‘middle east center, st. antony’s college’ by zaha hadid, oxford, united kingdomall images courtesy of zaha hadid architects

the newest addition to st. antony’s college in oxford broke ground yesterday, starting the construction process for the new ‘middle east center’by acclaimed architect zaha hadid. the bridge building will house a new library, research center, stacks, auditorium, cafe and individual reading rooms in 1200 square meters suspended between two existing archives originally built in the early 19th century on the university’s campus, and will be a key facility supporting the interdisciplinary study of contemporary middle eastern culture. an almost seamless stainless steel skin wraps the organically fluid structure reflecting a distorted version of the world around it. a series of skylights illuminated the reading area on the second level, and frame-less glass panels enclose the sunken courtyard facing the quads.

view form the street

atrium space

reading area

auditorium

sunken courtyard

floor plan / level 0

floor plan / level 1

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elevation

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project info:

location: oxford, united kingdomdate: 2006 – 2013current stage: constructiontotal floor area: 1,200m²site area: 900m²footprint area: 900m²