Porters' Lodge

Queen’s College, Oxford is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, which includes buildings designed by Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor. As such, the invited competition to insert a contemporary Porters’ Lodge within the entrance to the college’s front quad required a delicate approach.

Situated within the 18th-century loggia, the proposed Porters’ Lodge is formed of two curved pavilions, their geometry an extrusion of the loggia arches above. The intricately cast Hi-Macs acrylic stone skin of the lodge is perforated with a pattern inspired by self-replicating botanical cells. The design picks up a number of other key references to the architecture of the college, from the stuccoed white ceilings and timber bookcases of the library, to the secret walled gardens west of the college.