October 2002 - Oxford Preservation Trust Award for Sackler Library

Robert Adam Architects was recently delighted to accept an Oxford Preservation Trust Award for the design of the Sackler Library at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. The proposal to construct a new library around the existing fabric of the 1845 Neo-Classical building was a challenging one, demanding both a sympathetic appreciation of the established character of Oxford and a desire to innovate and startle. On both counts and more besides, the finished result delivers. Robert Adam’s vision is perfectly in tune with the site, nestling respectfully to the rear of C. R. Cockrell’s Ashmolean Museum. Its pared down style appears at once sublimely ancient yet simultaneously, the high tech glass roof gives the entrance vestibule an intensely modern air. Importantly its form complements and promotes the other rotunda buildings for which Oxford is so famous, the Radcliffe Camera, Observatory and Sheldonian Theatre. Indeed, historical references are imbedded within the fabric, the interior of the main library following a circular arrangement that has precedents in many other institutes of learning. 

There can be no doubt that the Sackler Library is a tremendous addition to the historic fabric of Oxford, reviving a tired space that as a parking lot, was detrimental to the image of this highly important site. Its sober austerity enables it to slip quietly into the heart of the urban fabric, whilst its monumental is comparable to significant buildings in the city. Preserving and enhancing the heritage and image of Oxford it can be recognised as a grand public building in its own right.