American billionaire to convert historic UK chapel into restaurant

The city council has approved plans to turn a former chapel and hospital superintendent’s accommodation on Armstrong Road, Littlemore, into The Chapel and Lodge – a “culinary destination”.

The proposals were submitted by Ellison Oxford Limited, a company founded and backed by one of the world’s richest men, Larry Ellison.

It is currently building the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), a science and innovation campus at Oxford Science Park, and revamping the city centre pub, The Eagle and Child.

The restaurant plans, approved on July 28, are set in buildings of the former Littlemore Hospital site, one of the first mental health institutions built in the country.

CGI restaurant plans (Image: Foster + Partners/ Oxford City Council planning portal)

CGI restaurant plans (Image: Foster + Partners/ Oxford City Council planning portal)

The spaces are currently used as offices for Laing O’Rourke, who are building the Ellison Institute, and Berkshire Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.

The plans describe the lodge as an “understated building that has undergone numerous cosmetic alterations since 1882” and the chapel as “subject to a range of 20th-century interventions that have resulted in a series of mediocre office environments”.

The offices in the chapel (Image: Foster + Partners/ Oxford City Council planning portal)

There are modern extension demolitions included in the proposals, which will see both buildings refurbished and a new conservatory and interconnecting walkway installed.

CGI restaurant plans (Image: Foster + Partners/ Oxford City Council planning portal)

A city council planning officer said: “The proposals’ retention of the Chapel and Lodge buildings whilst stripping away the more recent, unsympathetic additions and alterations is commendable.

“The proposal would re-establish the relationship between the historic buildings with considered additions and reinstatement of an interconnecting walkway between the two.”

CGI plan of the chapel and lodge (Image: Foster + Partners/ Oxford City Council planning portal)

The proposal says there will be capacity for 150 guests at both buildings, and car parking spaces would be reduced from 42 to 24.

In the design and access statement, the applicant said: “An important part of EIT’s vision is to create meaningful public places, vibrant hubs that spark conversation and bring together some of the greatest minds Oxford has to offer.

“As with the Eagle and Child, EIT’s first hospitality venue, the Chapel and Lodge invites the public to experience these historic structures that honour their treasured past while reimagining them for the future as a contemporary food and beverage destination.”

When plans were submitted, Councillor David Henwood, who represents Littlemore on the county council, said he was pleased the area would get a new restaurant, and he hoped it would be “both affordable and accessible to the local community”.  

David Henwood, Oxfordshire county and Oxford city councillor (Image: Ed Nix)

He added: “The proposal for a publicly accessible ground floor operating from morning to evening, with a focus on seasonal lunches, is particularly positive.

“However, Littlemore is an area of high deprivation, and it is essential that the institute gives careful consideration to both accessibility and affordability so that local residents can genuinely benefit from the development.”