The Master’s Field development at Balliol College, University of Oxford, was a multi-phased masterplan comprising eight purpose-built student accommodation buildings – enabling the College to accommodate its entire undergraduate intake on site.
Including eight separate blocks – a four-storey building and seven smaller three-storey structures - the accommodation blocks feature a truly hybrid solution, blending steel, CLT, and glulam.
B&K Hybrid Solutions were appointed to supply and install the series of CLT and steel hybrid structures, which also included visual glulam beams to two blocks.
The College brief sought to create a development in the spirit of a traditional collegiate setting, placing student welfare at its heart. Their ambition was to minimise student isolation and cater for a range of academic vocations within varied bedroom layouts.
The historical nature of Balliol College meant the accommodation had to be sensitively designed to enhance the College. By combining steel with CLT and glulam, the weight of the structure and load on foundations was decreased, while reducing the building’s carbon footprint.
The project provides 225 furnished en-suite study bedrooms arranged in clusters, supported by common rooms, laundries, refuse and covered cycle storage areas.
The new-build residential development provided much needed undergraduate student accommodation at what is one of the University of Oxford’s oldest and most prestigious colleges.
Credit: Nick Kane
Download Case Study PDF
