View from the observatory towards Walton Street - geograph

The Mathematical Institute at Oxford University

The Radcliffe Observatory Quarter (ROQ) is a major

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 ...

development project in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

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 ...

, in the estate of the old

Radcliffe Infirmary The Radcliffe Infirmary was a hospital in central north Oxford, England, located at the southern end of Woodstock Road on the western side, backing onto Walton Street. Closed in 2007, after refurbishment the building was re-opened in October ...

hospital. The site, covering 10 acres (3.7 hectares) is in central north Oxford. It is bounded by Observatory Street and

Green Templeton College Green Templeton College (GTC) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The college is located on the former Green College site on Woodstock Road next to the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter in North Oxford and is ...

to the north, the Woodstock Road to the east,

Somerville College Somerville College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The college's liberal tone derives from its f ...

to the south, and Walton Street to the west. The project and the new university area is named after the

grade I listed 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 ...

Radcliffe Observatory Radcliffe Observatory was the astronomical observatory of the University of Oxford from 1773 until 1934, when the Radcliffe Trustees sold it and built a new observatory in Pretoria, South Africa. It is a Grade I listed building. Today, the buil ...

to the north east of the site, now the centrepiece of

, which is intended to form the visual centrepiece of the project.

History

In 2009,

planning permission Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to buil ...

was granted by

Oxford City Council Oxford City Council is the local authority for the city of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. Oxford has had a council since medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974, Oxford has been a non-metropolitan district, wi ...

for the refurbishment of the

grade II* listed 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, H ...

Radcliffe Infirmary (the oldest wing of the hospital) and the

grade II listed 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, H ...

St Luke's Chapel and Outpatients Building, which flank the entrance courtyard. The Chapel is now deconsecrated and serves as a venue for events. Archaeological excavations were undertaken by the

Museum of London London Museum (known from 1976 to 2024 as the Museum of London) is a museum in London, covering the history of the city from prehistoric to modern times, with a particular focus on social history. The Museum of London was formed in 1976 by ama ...

. The remains of three

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

barrows and ring ditches were found, together with evidence of settlement in

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

times. New accommodation at

opened in September 2011. For 2012, the Radcliffe Infirmary is being refurbished for occupation by the Humanities Divisional Office, the

Faculty of Philosophy A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

, and the Philosophy and Theology Libraries. In June 2012, New Radcliffe House, by Walton Street on the ROQ development site, was completed by the construction company

Longcross Longcross is a village in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. Its name is thought to come from a marker, placed where the parish boundaries of Chertsey, Chobham and Egham met. Description South ...

. The Jericho Health Centre moved into the ground floor of this new building shortly afterwards. A new Mathematical Institute for the University of Oxford has been built on the site, named after the mathematician Sir

Andrew Wiles Sir Andrew John Wiles (born 11 April 1953) is an English mathematician and a Royal Society Research Professor at the University of Oxford, specialising in number theory. He is best known for Wiles's proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, proving Ferma ...

, who proved

Fermat's Last Theorem In number theory, Fermat's Last Theorem (sometimes called Fermat's conjecture, especially in older texts) states that no three positive number, positive integers , , and satisfy the equation for any integer value of greater than . The cases ...

. The site will also include a Humanities Building and Library, the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, and the

Blavatnik School of Government The Blavatnik School of Government is the school of public policy of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The School was founded in 2010 following a £75 million donation from business magnate Len Blavatnik, supported by £26 million fro ...

. Construction of the Blavatnik School of Government finished in 2015. It is a building immediately south of

Freud's Freud (aka Freud's) is a café- bar in a Victorian former church building at 119 Walton Street in Jericho, Oxford, England. The Freud café is located opposite Great Clarendon Street and the Oxford University Press is also opposite to the so ...

café on Walton Street, designed by the Swiss architects

Herzog & de Meuron Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd. is an international architecture firm headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, with additional offices in Berlin, Hong Kong, London, Munich, New York City, Paris, and San Francisco. Founded in 1978 by Jacques Herzog and ...

, using a £75 million donation from the billionaire

Leonard Blavatnik Sir Leonard Valentinovich Blavatnik ( Ukrainian: Леонард Валентинович Блаватник; born June 14, 1957) is a Soviet/Ukrainian-born British-American businessman and philanthropist. As of April 2025, ''Forbes'' estimated ...

. The Campaign to Protect Port Meadow that has been formed to protest against the Oxford University

Castle Mill Castle Mill is a graduate housing complex of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Overview Castle Mill is located north of Oxford railway station along Roger Dudman Way, just to the west of the railway tracks and the Oxford Down ...

graduate housing development south of

Port Meadow Port Meadow is a large meadow of open common land beside the River Thames to the north and west of Oxford, England. Overview The meadow is an ancient area of grazing land, still used for horses and cattle, and according to legend has never bee ...

was opposed to this proposal as well due to its impact on the Oxford skyline. In March 2016, Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences relocated from New Radcliffe House to the refurbished Outpatient's Building, adjacent to the old Radcliffe Infirmary. Following a £14m investment, the Grade II-listed outpatients building has been transformed into a new research and teaching centre for primary care researchers. It had been empty since 2007, when the outpatient services were transferred to the West Wing of the

John Radcliffe Hospital John Radcliffe Hospital (informally known as the JR or the John Radcliffe) is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England. It forms part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is named after John Radcliffe (physician) ...

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston, Oxford, Marston to the north-west, Cowley, Oxfordshire ...

. ;Delayed construction of Humanities building After securing planning permission for a new Humanities building in 2010, construction was put on hold due to the 'uncertain financial climate.' In 2015, a spokesman for the University said that the university planned to begin construction of a new Humanities building on the site in 2018. However, the head of the Humanities Division later said that construction would begin in 2021. In June 2019, the university announced that

Stephen A. Schwarzman Stephen Allen Schwarzman (born February 14, 1947) is an American businessman. He is the chairman and CEO of the Blackstone Group, a global private equity firm he established in 1985 with Peter G. Peterson. Schwarzman was chairman of President Do ...

had donated £150 million to establish the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities.

Gallery

File:Excavations behind the Radcliffe Infirmary - geograph.org.uk - 1571670.jpg, Archaeological excavations by the

in 2009, with the

building in the background File:New Radcliffe House, Oxford.JPG, New Radcliffe House in the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, housing the Jericho Health Centre, with the tower of the

in the background File:Green Templeton College.jpg, The Radcliffe Observatory, after which the ROQ project is named File:ROQ outpatients refit.JPG, Ongoing refit of the former outpatients' building into a new health research and teaching centre for the

References

External links

Radcliffe Observatory Quarter website

Oxford University Library Services information

Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences
{{coord, 51, 45, 38, N, 1, 15, 50, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title 2009 establishments in England University of Oxford sites Buildings and structures of the University of Oxford Planned developments Green Templeton College, Oxford