The project aims to create a ‘sector-leading’ science facility at the private day school, which was founded in 1480 and takes students aged seven to 18. It will support study in the fields of robotics, AI and data.

The proposal will entail demolishing existing science buildings in Iffley Road, and partially demolishing the Quinn and 1928 buildings. The 1928 building is considered a non-designated heritage asset, described by the planning officer as of ‘some architectural interest’.

However, they concluded that the loss of the block had been ‘carefully justified’ in the report, which recommended the application for approval.

The development will house new labs, a library and an exhibition space, as well as landscaping and conservation zones on the site’s grounds. The school says the development will use the ‘latest in sustainable construction techniques’.

A ‘partnership lab’ is also planned, intended to host children from state schools in Oxford, giving them access to the new facilities.

The design of the scheme centres around a main gatehouse, surrounded by the science labs, which are ‘arranged in the manner of townhouses’, the like of which face the site on the opposite side of the street. The façade will step down along Iffley Road and around the existing trees.

Walters and Cohen told the AJ: ‘The elevation along Iffley Road takes its cue from Oxford vernacular and includes chimneys, a framed student entrance giving views into the school and articulated brickwork picking up the rhythm of the buildings across the street.’

The practice described the buildings slated for demolition as ‘no longer fit for purpose’ and said they ‘could not be refurbished to meet modern standards’.

School master Helen Pike said that the new site would ‘stand as the centrepiece of our commitment to science partnership teaching, and create an environment in which future Nobel Prize winners and innovators can begin their careers.

‘Securing planning consent would not have been possible without the support of our design team, whose expertise and vision have helped us create a building of which we can all be proud.’

The school aims to have the new facilities up and running by 2030.

Project data

Location Magdalen College School, Oxford
Local authority Oxford City Council
Type of project Education
Client Magdalen College School
Architect Walters & Cohen Architects
Landscape architect Guillaume Baltz landscape + garden design
Planning consultant Bidwells
Structural engineer Price & Myers
M&E consultant Max Fordham
Quantity surveyor Holloway Squire
Planning application reference 25/02092/FUL

Existing site plan (left); proposed site plan (right)