BREATHTAKING views, spiralling staircases and endless walls of glass make the Blavatnik School of Government building “world-class”, the first public visitors said.

Hundreds of eager neighbours of the newly-opened Walton Street building received a sneak peek inside the “beautiful” work of architecture on Saturday at its first open day.

The £55m building was opened to students at the end of 2015 but has never been accessible to the public until now.

Now university staff hope to organise more events where residents can come and visit.

Chief operating officer of the Blavatnik Calum Miller said he was delighted with how the open day went.

He said: “It’s been wonderful to welcome our neighbours inside and show them around our new home.

“I love the building so much – but I’m biased. People have commented on the openness, and lots of people have showed interest in what the school is up to and what it is trying to achieve.”

A total of 764,000 hours of work went into the construction of the school, the equivalent to 372 years of work for one person.

Architect Lucy Mori, 49, from Summertown, came to the open day and bumped into her former Cambridge classmate and fellow architect Adrian James.

Ms Mori said: “How wonderful for Oxford to have a landmark as amazing as this building. It’s incredible to come inside and see the space which you can’t perceive from the outside.”

Mr James, 53, who lives in Osney, added: “Oxford now has a world class-institution and a building to match.

“It’s surprising. You don’t appreciate the size of the building until you get close, and the concrete is just beautiful.”

Head of communications for the school Alison Stibbe called the building “a thing of beauty”.

She said: “We have had a tremendous reaction from the community throughout its construction. We wanted to create the opportunity where all those people – neighbours, residents, architecture fans – could see inside for themselves.

“We have had incredibly positive feedback, such warmth and enthusiasm.”

The graduate school this year has 117 students, all studying for a masters degree in public policy which could prepare them to help write Government policy.

The building was designed to promote open discussion and interaction, and stretches up to five floors with an exclusive outside balcony space offering views of Oxford city.

Lead architect John O’Mara visited the open day with his partner Beatie Blakemore and their eight-month-old daughter Mollie.

Mr O’Mara, 44, said: “It’s been smashing. The people here have been really positive. It’s so gratifying and it’s nice to see the public enjoying it. There’s been a really good sense of movement.”

Octavia Cox, 30, lives just around the corner from the building in Hart Street.

thisisoxfordshire:

She didn’t attend the open day but said she thought the architects had done a good job in integrating the building into the community.

She added: “It’s set back a bit from the road so it doesn’t impose too much. It has a lot of glass, which is good. It reflects the sky. They’ve been quite sensitive in making it fit in.”

The building was designed by architects Herzog and de Meuron, who are also responsible for designing the Beijing Bird’s Nest stadium and converting the old Bankside Power Station into the Tate Modern.

During construction, the site team raised £12,610 for Helen & Douglas House children’s hospice in East Oxford and gave up 240 hours of their time to volunteer there.

COURT BATTLE

Businessman David Freud took Oxford City Council to High Court in 2013, in a bid to stop the Blavatnik building from ever being built.

The owner of Freud bar next to the Blavatnik site claimed members of the committee which approved the scheme had undeclared conflicts of interest and said the project breached planning rules.

But Mr Justice Ouseley at the Royal Courts of Justice in London rejected his claims that some members of the West Area Planning Committee which approved the scheme had undisclosed interests.

thisisoxfordshire:

  • Conflict: David Freud

These included councillors Colin Cook and Bob Price – the former of whom works as chief technician at the university’s medical sciences teaching centre, while the latter occasionally lectures for the university.

But Mr Justice Ouseley said this was disclosed in the register of interests and did not merit being disclosed at the meeting.

He also said local authorities were free to disregard some aspects of their policies in some circumstances.

TIMELINE

* 2010 – the Blavatnik School of Government is founded in Oxford thanks to a £75m donation by businessman and philanthropist Leonard Blavatnik
* 2011 – admissions open for students wanting to study at the school in 2012
* 2012 – the first 38 students for the Master of Public Policy programme are admitted, studying in three temporary sites
* 2013 – excavation of the new site in Walton Street begins in September
* 2013 – owner of Freud’s bar in Walton Street David Freud takes Oxford City Council to the High Court over plans for the school and loses
* 2014 – the doctoral programme is established with the first students admitted
* 2015 – the new building in Walton Street is officially opened in December
* 2016 – in January the school hosts its first public open day