Around 220 study bedrooms for students will be built as part of the Master’s Field Project, designed by architect Niall McLaughlin. The rooms will be across nine new buildings.
The £39.6m development will be built in the area between the Master’s Field, Jowett Walk and St Cross Road, next to Balliol’s sports ground.
In the first phase, work will begin on the south of the site, at the corner of Jowett Walk and St Cross Road, to provide the accommodation for undergraduates, as well as a new pavilion. BAM has just started on site.
The project, set for completion in summer 2020, will give the college a net gain of 140 student rooms, which is enough for Balliol to be able to offer accommodation to all its undergraduates throughout their time at Oxford.
“The project as a whole will transform our accommodation offering to both undergraduates and postgraduates,” said Sir Drummond Bone, master of Balliol.
Anthony Nagle is BAM’s construction director for the scheme. It is his fourth major project in the city, following the Investcorp (or Softbridge) Building for St Antony’s College, the Ashmolean Museum’s new wing, and the current Acland Project for Keble College.
He said: “This is a marvellous city for architecture and individuality. It’s a complex place to build with numerous professional technical challenges for engineers and contractors. The Master’s Field scheme is typically ambitious, striking and visionary.
“As BAM’s track record here demonstrates, we do not shrink from the most complicated schemes. And our embedded collaborative culture is what helps us to deliver even the most ambitious and challenging designs.”
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