Oxford University Grade II listed building needs urgent work

The main premises of the Ruskin School of Art, the university’s fine art department, at 74 High Street in Oxford, has been closed since October 2024 for a major refurbishment.

The stunning listed building dates back to the 19th century, built in 1888 and designed by T G Jackson, and the university’s art department moved in to the High Street building in 1975.

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Usually operating across this site and a second fine art building in East Oxford, at 128 Bullingdon Road opened in 2015, the department has temporarily taken up residence in The Old Music Hall at 108 Cowley Road while renovations are carried out.

The changes would restore the building to its ’19th century splendour’ (Image: Purcell / Ruskin School of Art)

An application for listed building consent to alter the historic High Street building has been submitted to Oxford City Council.

It details a refurbishment which include the removal of a 1970s era mezzanine in the main studio space, as well as 20th century partitions and building services, the installation of a platform lift to make most of the building accessible, and the creation of a new library and seminar teaching spaces.

Visualisation of the main studio in the Ruskin School of Art (Image: Purcell / Ruskin School of Art)

The latter remodelling is partly envisioned to house 16 new students on the premises – adding to the ‘intimately-scaled’ department of 130 students – for a new post-graduate Master’s programme in Contemporary Art History and Theory, due to launch in October this year.

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A ‘statement of need’ submitted by the Ruskin School of Art with the listed building application said the renovation is “urgent and necessary” for several reasons in addition to its post-graduate course expansion.

Visualisation of the new proposed library in the Ruskin School of Art (Image: Purcell / Ruskin School of Art)

These are the accessibility of the site, as only the ground floor and basement are accessible to wheelchair users, excluding them from the building’s main studio, teaching and meeting spaces.

A statement said: “This is not something that can be excused any longer. It causes distress and division amongst our cohort and staff and needs to be urgently addressed.”

It proposes an ‘elegant’ transparent platform lift from the basement to the first floor

Another key reason is to restore the building’s core spaces to their ‘original 19th century splendour’, partly by removing the ‘unsightly’ 1970s mezzanine from the drawing studio to maximise its natural light and ceiling height.

Visualisation of the office space in the Ruskin School of Art (Image: Purcell / Ruskin School of Art)

This would also enable the ‘elegant’ room to be rented out to events during the university vacations, providing additional income for the art school.

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The renovations are also sought to improve the building’s energy performance and the ‘poor air quality and damp damage’ in the basement level, which was revealed when the building was stripped back during ‘enabling works’ earlier this year.

Finally, it would establish a more ‘flexible and efficient design’ for varied studio spaces through use of removable partitions to provide different teaching and studio space configurations depending on the department’s needs.

The application is open for consultation on the Oxford City Council website and is due to be decided by June this year.