From CLT as the primary structure, to reclaimed bricks and cork finishes, our North Oxford project for @stedmundhall uses sustainably sourced materials with low embodied carbon throughout.
This vision is rooted in a carefully considered material palette, one that reflects both the site’s Victorian heritage and our studio’s ongoing commitment to low-carbon design.
Handmade red multi bricks laid in buff mortar and Keymer Shire clay tiles bring warmth, texture, and human touch to the façades, each tile bearing the handprint of its maker.
Every elevation is meticulously set out to ensure quality and reduce waste on site.
#materials #sustainability #stedmundhall #embodiedcarbon #oxford #architecture #materialpalette #details #architecturephotography
Provision of new student and staff accommodation is an urgent priority for @stedmundhall . Currently reaching topping out stage, Wright & Wright’s new Norham Gardens campus will provide 127 low-energy study bedrooms in a mix of Passivhaus-standard new builds and a deep retrofitted Victorian villa.
Set within the North Oxford Victorian Suburb Conservation Area, the design celebrates the Arts and Crafts tradition of craftsmanship and delivers an 88% net biodiversity gain across four distinct gardens.
#SustainableDesign #HigherEducation #OxfordArchitecture #StudentHousing #StEdmundHall #Passivhaus #HistoricArchitecture #LowCarbonLiving #WrightAndWright #ArchitecturalHeritage #FutureOfEducation #StudentAccomodation #HistoricPreservation #Heritage #CLT
📣✨ A transformational moment for the Academy
Thanks to an extraordinary £30 million donation from philanthropist Aud Jebsen, the largest in our history, York Gate and the adjoining recital hall will be reimagined.
CGI images show early designs for future world-class spaces which will elevate how our students learn, rehearse and perform. From a top-level acoustic refit to a redesigned Museum, this project will give the next generation of musicians the exceptional facilities they need to thrive as young music makers.
Find out more via the link in our bio 👆
📸Wright & Wright Architects
Winners of the Sustainable Project of the Year 2026 at the Museum + Heritage Awards 2026.
We are delighted that the Lambeth Palace Masterplan has been recognised for its approach to sustainability within one of the UK’s most significant historic estates.
The project combined a fabric-first approach with a new Energy Centre, alongside upgrades to access and the careful repair and adaptation of the Palace’s historic fabric.
Proud to receive this joint award alongside Gloucestershire Archives.
#museumandheritageaward #masterplan #lambethpalace
Over the past months, we have been working in Kentish Town with the NW5 Community Play Project, a small independent charity founded in 1973 by residents seeking better spaces and opportunities for young people on the Peckwater Estate. Today, NW5 supports children and young people aged 0-25 and their families, providing a place to meet, learn and feel part of something within a richly diverse community.
Through a series of workshops with children, residents and trustees, we have been hearing how the space is used, remembered and hoped for. We were also pleased to meet June, a local resident involved from the very beginning, who reflected on what the project meant then and what it still needs to be today.
Over the coming months, we look forward to sharing more as the project develops.
@camdengiving | @maxfordhamllp | @priceandmyers
#communityarchitecture #socialimpact #kentishtown #nw5 #camden
At the Museum of the Home, a 1998 wing set the line of the boundary wall, later extended and reworked as part of our 2021 refurbishment. Notched openings draw on the existing language and use salvaged railings, offering glimpses into the gardens while maintaining the site edge.
An approach shaped by what was already there, adapting and extending as part of a wider ambition to stitch the city back together.
#architecture #adaptivereuse #museumarchitecture #londonarchitecture #museumofthehome
At St John’s College, Oxford, the quadrangle columns were replaced following structural failure, where repair was no longer possible.
Swaledale Fossil Limestone, a Carboniferous limestone from North Yorkshire, was selected as a replacement for the original Bletchingdon marble, which is no longer available. Used historically in significant buildings such as @yorkminsterofficial and @durhamcathedral , it is known for its durability, density, and resistance to weathering. This Crinoidal limestone is over 350 million years old, with striking fossil patterns revealed through polishing.
As a non-standard material in Oxford, approval was required from both Oxford City Planning Department and Historic England.
Delivered in collaboration with @priceandmyers , @britannicus_stone , Beard and Szerelmey, ensuring continuity within the historic fabric.
#historicarchitecture #stonemasonry #conservationarchitecture #oxfordarchitecture #swaledalelimestone
Archaeological investigations and the strip-out of modern finishes are continuing on site at the High Street Project for All Souls College.
Excavations in the basement have revealed an Anglo-Saxon road, including original paving material and traces of earlier building footprints.
These discoveries point to the earliest formation Oxford's High Street and highlight the richly layered history of the site.
On the upper floors, modern finishes have been stripped back to expose the Georgian building structure, revealing stone walls, 'check' window reveals, and a stone arch over the central Diocletian window.
@ridgellp@maxfordhamllp@engineers_hrw@gt_llp@carter_jonas_llp@oxford_uni
#oxford #allsoulscollege #excavations #archaeology #georgian
Located within a pair of Grade I listed terraced houses on Bedford Square, the @paulmelloncentr project re-imagines how a diverse programme of research, teaching and events can be accommodated within a historic setting.
Rather than adding, the approach was to clarify, opening visual lines to the square and allowing original features and proportions to reassert themselves. Connections across four levels bring the two houses together as one, introducing a more fluid and legible sequence of movement.
A light-touch intervention, creating calm, precise spaces for study and exchange, while allowing the building to perform more openly over time.
#heritage #adaptivereuse #listedbuildings #researchspaces #londonarchitecture
Proposals for Washhouse Court at the Charterhouse have now been granted Planning Permission. 🎉
Rooted in its charitable mission, the project will:
• Support independent living and wellbeing for older people
• Improve accessibility and remove split-level arrangements
• Introduce more flexible, open-plan living
• Enhance wayfinding through material, texture and colour
•Improve energy performance and long-term resilience
Thank you to the entire team for their collaboration in bringing the project forward.
The Townscape Consultancy | Arup | Oculus Management | Heasmans Ltd | Conisbee
#charterhouse #laterliving #refurbishment #sustainability #wayfinding
We continue to return to physical models as a core part of our design process.
There’s a clarity that comes through making, testing ideas by hand, understanding form, light and material, and communicating intent more directly. Models let us interrogate a proposal at every stage, revealing qualities drawings and renders can’t capture.
Even with generative AI imaging, the physical model remains essential. They also create a shared, tangible language, which always invites discussion, challenge and refinement. Not just representation, but a way of thinking.
Models normally take some time, but the insight they offer makes them indispensable to how we design.
#modelmaking #designprocess #studioculture #designthinking #builtenvironment
At Lambeth Palace Library, the Conservation Studios support the careful work of preserving rare books, manuscripts and archival material from one of the world’s most significant ecclesiastical collections.
Designed in close collaboration with conservation specialists and informed by research into studios at Yale, the British Library, the Bodleian, The Keep and the V&A, amongst others - the spaces provide controlled daylight, stable environmental conditions and generous workspaces for delicate conservation work.
As part of the wider transformation of Lambeth Palace, historic collections once stored in spaces such as the Palace’s Great Hall were brought into purpose-built archival environments designed for long-term preservation.
As archivist Giles Mandelbrote reflected:
“It makes a dramatic difference to what we had before. Precious items had to be wrapped in plastic bags and carried across the courtyard through the rain to the reading room.”
Some of these objects can currently be seen in the exhibition ‘Primate of All England’: The Archbishop of Canterbury Through Time’, open until May.
#HeritageArchitecture #ConservationArchitecture #BuiltHeritage #ConservationStudio #LambethPalaceLibrary
