Context 166 - November 2020

C O N T E X T 1 6 6 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 0 23 Oxford HETTIE DIX Conserving the Hilda Besse Building After surviving for 50 years predominantly as originally designed and built, the Grade II listed Hilda Besse Building at St Antony’s College, Oxford, is being refurbished. St Antony’s College was founded in 1950 follow- ing the donation of £2 million from business- man Sir Antonin Besse. Named after his wife, the Hilda Besse Building is the only realised element from a 1960 master plan drawn up by HKPA (Howell Killick Partridge and Amis) for the fledgling college, which decided to prioritise the creation of a large hall and common rooms in order to bring students together. After nearly 50 years of use, the operational weaknesses of the Hilda Besse Building in the 21st century were apparent. The kitchen and servery configuration was inefficient; the fellows’ dining room was too small; access was not inclusive; and the building was generally looking tired. Purcell has been leading the refurbishment of the building with a scheme to improve facili- ties, accessibility and overall appearance. Assessing significance The Hilda Besse Building is Grade II listed. Scholars in the field of 20th-century architecture have even suggested it ought to be upgraded to Grade II*. Traditionally, evaluating the signifi- cance of a listed building primarily takes stock of its phasing, and the integrity of each phase, rarity, notable associations and a host of other factors. However, this approach simply does not best fit a single-phase construction realising the design of one practice. The Hilda Besse Building survives predominantly as originally designed and built, with minimal intervention. In preparing proposals, to simply say that the whole building was equally significant would not be at all helpful. We consequently needed to find a new angle to understand where there was capacity to enact change throughout the building so that it could continue to perform its intended role as the heart of the college. We ultimately broke down the spatial hierarchy across the building into three tiers: • Primary spaces, such as the dining and common rooms, the status of which it was most important to retain and enhance so that they can continue to perform their original roles. • Secondary spaces, such as the entrance lobby and main circulation routes, which incorporate characteristic materials and design features but whose value was not inherently linked with a traditional college use. • Tertiary spaces: ancillary areas such as stores and the kitchen, which are utilitarian and support A visualisation of the refurbished dining hall, with a diagrid-patterned floor recreated to match the ceiling (All photos by Purcell)