Lambeth Palace Library. Photo © Hufton + Crow
As one of Oxford’s oldest and smallest colleges, Cor- pus Christi is characterised by a spirit of architectural and academic intimacy. Wright & Wright’s proposals carefully unpick, restore and augment the existing building fabric, while adding distinctive contempo- rary elements. Notably, a new ashlar stone facade on Oriel Square with a large glazed opening alludes to the historic notion of the ‘library window’, acting as a new marker for the college, consolidating its civic presence and reframing its relationship with the wider urban realm. Along with creating more suitable conditions for holding and maintaining the college’s valuable archive, the project also improves accessibility to the Special Collection and creates more spatially efficient and experientially uplifting conditions for readers and staff. In expanding user provision, the remodelled building will create 55 new reader spaces for Corpus members and six additional spaces within the Special Collections area for researchers. An additional 2,000 linear metres of shelving will be added for the storage of manuscripts and early printed books.
The remodelled library is designed to meet the strin- gent requirements of Passivhaus in order to provide an ultra-low energy building that requires very little space heating. To achieve this, the design team have adopted the key Passivhaus principles: provide high levels of insulation, omit thermal bridges, specify high performance triple-glazed windows with insulated frames, ensure airtight building fabric and design a mechanical and ventilation system with highly efficient heat recov- ery. Rigorous construction auditing systems ensure that sustainability targets are delivered through high-quality construction. Meeting the requirements of Passivhaus within a constrained site and using historic fabric has been a challenge. Incorporating high levels of insula- tion has increased the depth of the walls and roof on an already tight site. This has been carefully managed to ensure the brief is fully accommodated. Corpus Christi and the design team have actively responded to the climate conversation to deliver a pioneering and highly sustainable building emblematic of the college’s future development. The project is due to be completed in autumn 2023.
Sympathetic design
Another Wright & Wright project, almost 10 years in the making, is the new Lambeth Palace Library, which was completed in 2020 and opened to the public in 2021. The project was awarded the coveted BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) ‘Excellent’ rating. Launched in 1990, BREEAM criteria are broken down into the following areas: energy, health, wellbeing, transport, water use, ecology and biodiversity, materials, waste and pollution. All these factors are awarded credits and the overall score achieved dictates a building’s certifi- cation rating.
The library is the first new building on the site of Lambeth Palace for 185 years and will house the Church of England’s archive – the most important collection of religious books, manuscripts and archives in Europe, after the Vatican. The building is a sensitive yet distinctly modern architectural addition to the site of the Grade I listed palace. Nestled among mature trees at the north end of Lambeth Palace’s private garden, the build-
June 2022
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