Willmott Dixon scoops £60m Oxford Brookes project

Willmott Dixon has been selected by Oxford Brookes University to deliver two new buildings on its Headington Hill campus.

The plans, designed by ADP Architecture, will create a new teaching block and faculty offices, as well as an engineering building, in a Grade II-listed estate.

The £60m project will provide a new home for the university’s Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment, featuring “sustainable, flexible spaces for students, staff and researchers”, Willmott Dixon said.

A “social core” at the heart of the three-storey teaching building is intended to support informal learning and promote wellbeing. A purpose-built engineering workshop alongside it will sit within a parkland conservation area. The facilities are expected to be ready for the 2024/25 academic year.

The work was procured through the Southern Construction Framework (SCF Construct), which covers a wide range of sectors including education, health, leisure and local authority work. Willmott Dixon was confirmed on the fifth generation of the framework yesterday, alongside other firms including Kier, Tilbury Douglas and Morgan Sindall.

Willmott Dixon’s other recent work for universities includes a biomedical research building at the University of Warwick and the £46.5m School of Engineering at the University of Birmingham.

Oxford Brookes director of estates and campus services Jerry Woods said: “Together, the new teaching and workshop buildings will help our students, staff and researchers to flourish, boost local collaboration and meet the needs of business.”

Richard Poulter, managing director for Willmott Dixon in the south, said: “This state-of-the-art facility will provide Oxford Brookes University with innovative facilities that allow their students and staff to meet the future requirements of industry and entrepreneurism.”