Another prestigious project has been secured by BAM, marking both a return to the University of Oxford and a partnership with the renowned Zaha Hadid practice.

BAM is to build a futuristic addition to the University of Oxford's Middle East Centre at St Antony’s College.

The contractor is due to start on site this month to deliver the £11 million Softbridge building.

The building has been designed by world famous architect Dame Zaha Hadid, who worked with BAM on the award-winning Riverside Transport Museum in Glasgow.

The building contains three levels and a basement. It will feature a library and reading room; an auditorium with translation facilities; a café; and specialist archive storage rooms for precious College resources.


Sited between two listed buildings, it will enhance and enlarge the facilities available to students and post-graduates within the university’s Middle East Centre.

Hadid's use of glass curtain walling and spectacular steel cladding will make the building a landmark within the renowned university and historic city. FSC-approved timber will be used for sustainability.

BAM has a strong track record in Oxford and will work with suppliers that it used on the Ashmolean Museum project.

BAM's Construction Manager Anthony Nagle said: "We are delighted to be working with such universally respected architects as Zaha Hadid, and look forward to the challenge of making their stunning vision a reality.

"This project will provide first class learning facilities for the Middle East Centre at Oxford University while acting as a landmark befitting of the institution. We will ensure the scheme also benefits the local economy and environment."

Work is due for completion in August 2014, ahead of the 2014/15 academic year.

(CD/GK)