Schwarzman Centre: New consultation as concert hall designs unveiled

The designs for a "beautiful" new concert hall in Oxford have been unveiled.

It will be part of the £150m Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, due for completion for Oxford University's 2024-25 academic year.

The proposed designs are being presented as part of a new public consultation into the building.

A wide range of music is expected to be put on at the 500-seat venue, with performances open to the wider public.

In addition to the main concert space, the building will have a 250-seat performance venue, and a 100-seat area for experimental performances.

The university is home to several music venues, including the Sheldonian Theatre, the Jacqueline du Pre Music Building, and the Holywell Music Room, but the new hall is expected to offer more modern facilities.

William Whyte, professor of architectural history, called it a building of "enormous complexity and huge ambition".

He added: "It will also be beautiful: a new home for the humanities, a new public space for the people of Oxford, and an inspirational addition to the city's architecture."

The project has also received the backing of His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman.

The writer, whose books are set in a fictional version of the university, said the centre would be "an exciting and distinguished addition to the architecture of this beautiful city, and what it embodies about the central place of humanities in the world of learning needs demonstrating now more than ever".

"I look forward to seeing it flourish," he added.

The new centre will be built at the university's Radcliffe Observatory Quarter site, subject to planning permission.

The application is expected to be submitted to Oxford City Council in late summer or early autumn.

The project is being funded by Stephen A. Schwarzman, the chairman and CEO of investment firm Blackstone.

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