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UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OXFORD
BOATHOUSE WINNING COMPETITION ENTRY Year: 2004 Oxford University College lost its Listed Boathouse a few years ago as a result of a fire. The College recently decided to organize an architectural competition for a new Boathouse. Belsize Architects were invited to take part and their entry was chosen as the winning scheme. The project is currently being developed with a provisional completion date towards the end of 2005. The concept underpinning the design draws inspiration from the surrounding landscape with the site edged by the river and the wide, horizontal vistas across the water meadows. The shape of the building, with a height of two storeys, has a deliberate horizontal emphasis that is sympathetic to the landscape and is in reference to nautical traditional design. The aim of the scheme is to provide, on the bank of the river, a backdrop to the rowing activity where, as in a theatre stage, rowers play out their individual parts to an audience which finds shelter and shares accommodation in the new boathouse. The brief called for a large boat storage area, caretaker accommodation, student rooms, clubroom and a viewing platform. The overall intent in bringing together all these functional requirements has been to emphasize the public dimension of the building and its role as a riverside landmark. As a result, in the ground floor structure, articulated in four bays for the storage of the boats, a break has been introduced to create a recess inviting the passer-by to the main entrance of the building. Likewise, the identity of the first floor, where caretaker’s flat and student rooms with their ancillary facilities find accommodation, is characterized by the public spaces of the clubroom and viewing platform. The clubroom is given a prominent position on the first floor, and with its extensive glass walls and roofs extends out over the footprint of the ground floor to be in closer proximity with the water and give generous panoramic views of the river. The viewing platform faces the river and is protected by the thin, flat surface of the roof lightly hovering over the volume of the building. Clad in earth-coloured copper both top and underside, the roof is gently sloping and leans toward the river as if in an attempt to dip into the water. The solid volume of the building is broken in two sections by a two-storey foyer whose top to bottom glazed elevations allow visual connection across the building and leave the relationship between the river and the water meadows intact.
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