St Peter’s College, Oxford

St Peter’s College is academically very strong, but historically suffered from not having college grounds to match.

As part of a plan to rectify this, in 2012 the college commissioned an architectural feasibility study to explore potential building refurbishments and additions, which included an audit of the landscape. This found that most external spaces lacked clarity of design, with an excessive reliance on poor-quality hard landscape materials. A general lack of planting and plantsmanship also contributed to their rather drab character. Step-free access was very limited and, where it existed, gradients did not comply with modern standards.

Thanks to a generous alumni donation, the college embarked on two ambitious phases of building regeneration and construction, known as Perrodo Phases 1 and 2, between 2013 and 2018. These included the complete refurbishment of the main entrance and three of the principal college quads, with a new emphasis on an elegant and restrained palette of high-quality natural hard landscape materials. This palette was used throughout the college grounds to create a sense of cohesion between the somewhat disparate collection of buildings, dating from the 18th to the 20th century. Trees and generous flower and shrub borders were also integrated into the redesign, bringing colour, richness and biodiversity to the heart of the college.

In 2018, the college acquired the Castle Hill House site, adjacent to the Master’s Lodge, and embarked on a third phase. This provided two much-needed new student accommodation blocks, set within new landscaped terraces and courtyards, as well as a new garden for the Master’s Lodge. Long sections of non-historic walls, which had previously hidden the site from a public footpath running between the main college grounds and the newly acquired site, were replaced with beautifully handcrafted railings, increasing visibility and natural surveillance.