Wright & Wright adds "calm and confident" extension to University of Oxford library

https://www.dezeen.com/2025/11/18/wright-wright-the-spencer-building/











London studio Wright & Wright has expanded the University of Oxford's Corpus Christi College Library, tucking a limestone-fronted extension into its original Grade I-listed site. Named The Spencer Building, the 479-square-metre extension consolidates the library's collection of rare manuscripts and books into a single home, while providing reading spaces and step-free access.













The Spencer Building is the first extension to Corpus Christi College Library since its founding in the 16th century. It replaces a 1950s garage on a constrained site between a medieval city wall and the listed facade of the college's quad. Wright & Wright fronted the extension with limestone cladding and a metal oriel window in a contemporary take on the surrounding fabric.











"We wanted to design something that could respond to those constraints while still feeling calm and confident in its own right," founder Claire Wright told Dezeen. "A large 'library window' punctuates the facade, borrowing from the College's distinctive windows that traditionally mark key social spaces such as the hall and chapel," she added. "We hope it feels as though it's always belonged there, even though it's unmistakably of its time."











Inside the extension, the thermal mass of the city wall to the west was used to create stable, low-energy conditions for the archive space, which is wrapped by an entrance foyer, reception and special access reading room on the ground floor. The concrete structure containing the archives played a large part in the building achieving Passivhaus standards, making it one of the first libraries in Oxford to receive the certification.

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