The H B Allen Centre is the graduate centre of

Keble College Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to ...

, one of the constituent colleges of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Background

The H B Allen Centre is named for Heather Barbara "Mickie" Allen, founder of the H B Allen Charitable Trust. Ms. Allen was a descendant of the founder of

Beefeater Gin Beefeater Gin is a brand of gin owned by Pernod Ricard and bottled and distributed in the United Kingdom. Beefeater remained in the control of its founding Burrough family until 1987. The Beefeater distillery is one of 24 in London. The name ...

, James Burrough, and also donated to

RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. Founded in 1824 ...

for lifeboats in

Padstow Padstow (; ) is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary, approximately northwest of Wadebridge, ...

. The trust contributed a £25 million capital grant to assist with construction and fitting out of the new site.

Construction

The centre was built on the site of the former

Acland Hospital The Acland Hospital (also previously known as the Acland Nursing Home, Acland Home and the Sarah Acland Home for Nurses) was a private nursing home and hospital in central North Oxford, England, located in a prominent position at the southern end ...

. Part of the old hospital, the Sarah Acland House, is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, and a significant challenge in construction was preserving this structure. The H B Allen Centre was officially opened on 3 October 2019 (a year behind schedule) by

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his pat ...

Facilities

The centre includes accommodation for 230 full-time graduates, as well as common area including two multipurpose rooms, laundry facilities, a gym, a café, and lecture theatre.

References

{{Reflist 2019 establishments in England Residential buildings completed in 2019 Buildings and structures of the University of Oxford Grade II listed buildings in Oxford Grade II listed residential buildings Residential buildings in England Keble College, Oxford