Plans for a major revamp of Exeter College Oxford Grade II-listed library have been approved. The scheme will restore and upgrade the two-storey 1850s Neogothic library building.

We are excited to be working alongside Nex Architects for our client Exeter College on this project, which marks another exciting chapter in Webb Yates Engineers involvement in sustainable heritage restorations.

“Our solution was to span the length of the building with a structural desk-shelf. Like a wooden ‘I’ beam, the plane of the desk and the floor are united by the vertical desk front to form an efficient stressed skin structure using beech laminated veneer lumber (LVL). The proposed intervention is, in effect, a humble piece of furniture rather than brute structure, and is clearly subordinated to the main fabric of the building, allowing the hall to recover its original scale”, says Steve Webb, director at Webb Yates.

The project is expected to start on site in summer 2022 and is targeting completion in autumn 2023.

Read more about Exeter College at Architects’ Journal here