A 'TEMPLE to Science' will be constructed on the site where an Oxford University building riddled with Asbestos was torn down.
A new 'Life and Mind Building' for the University of Oxford was given the go-ahead by Oxford City Council's west area planning committee on Tuesday night.
The building on the corner of South Parks Road and St Cross Road will house two departments of the university: Experimental Psychology and a new Department of Biology, combining Zoology and Plant Sciences.
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It will replace the Tinbergen Building, a mid-20th century concrete building which was full of Asbestos and had previously been home to the Psychology and Zoology departments.
The building was unanimously approved by the committee, with member Mike Gotch commenting that extra resource for sciences in Oxford could be beneficial.
He said: "In the middle of a pandemic we don’t need reminding that good science at Oxford can lead to some amazing results."
The new building will be five storeys tall, and house a basement below ground.
It will also connect to existing chemistry labs on South Parks Road.
The building site currently. Picture: Ed Nix
At the corner of South Parks Road and St Cross Road there will be a new open public space full of trees and sitting areas.
This will have an 'amphitheatre' area which will give access to the basements.
There are also plans for a cafe on the ground floor which members of the public can access, and a set of greenhouses on the roof to accommodate plant studies.
While councillors on the committee were in favour of the new building, some had reservations about it.
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Liz Wade was worried about the height of a chimney flue on the new building, because it could block views of Oxford's dreaming spires.
Ms Wade said: "I can see it is a temple to science and a very grand building… but it doesn’t need this height."
The councillor also raised concerns about traffic in the area, because of extra demand on the road and the effect of a proposed new bus gate between South Parks Road and St Cross Road.
The old building was demolished because it was full of asbestos. Picture: Ed Nix
But a report by planning officers did not raise concerns about the height of the building, and Oxfordshire County Council, which is responsible for roads, had no concerns about traffic.
A letter from pro-vice chancellor Dr David Prout to Oxford City Council in support of the plan said the new Life and Mind Building would be the ‘largest building project the university has even undertaken’.
READ AGAIN about when demolition of the old Tinbergen building began
In a press release about the project, Anna Strongman, chief executive of Oxford University Development, said: she was 'extremely proud to be bringing forward' the university's first building project 'in the wake of Covid 19'.
She added: "When complete, it will provide students with a modern, state-of-the-art facility that helps continue the University of Oxford’s legacy as one of the world’s most pre-eminent teaching institutions."
Before the Tinbergen Building closed in 2017, 1,325 people were using the building, including 600 undergraduates.
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