natural stone award for St Johns College library & study centre

The Library and Study Centre at St John’s College Oxford has won the New Build Modern Style Stone Cladding category in the Stone Federation’s Natural Stone Awards. 

Stone Drawing - the exterior wall of the library

Wright & Wright Architects was in charge of the project, and Szerelmey was the stone contractor.  The centrepiece of the project was an artwork by Susanna Heron, who turned to stoneCIRCLE with whom she had previously worked to help manufacture the piece.

The award-winning library and study centre at St John’s College

The artwork, called Stone Drawing, is a shallow carved stone relief in Clipsham limestone, the same stone used in the old university buildings of Oxford, sourced from Stamford Stone who are the sole suppliers of Clipsham stone. The work is situated on both external and internal faces of the west side of a new Library and Study centre for St John’s College Oxford and was completed in 2018. The original 17th century St John’s College library is housed within Canterbury Quadrangle, one of the greatest Baroque architectural quadrangles in Oxford and the Study Centre adjoins it.

The carved external wall is 6 metres high and 17.4 metres long and is comprised of three overlapping sections, which are stepped and separated by windows in the reveals. For the exterior relief Susanna Heron took into consideration the way that rain might be directed over the relief, with the idea that weathering would gradually adapt the line of the carving over a long period of time. This consideration created a drawing of water-flow and light. Further reflections are to be seen in the pool of water at its base which will reflect the carving and throw light up the wall and into the interior.

The carved stone relief on the interior walls of the library is more shallow and a mirror image to the exterior. It measures the same 17.4 metres length but with a reduced height of 3.7 metres. 

Everyone at stoneCIRCLE is delighted to have been able to collaborate with Susanna Heron, Wright & Wright Architects and Szerelmey on the award-winning project.

The full case study can be found here.