Ahrends, Burton and Koralek (1973-77)
Set at the south west corner of Keble College and resembling a medieval fortress on the outside, the Hayward Building and De Breyne Quad complex has – in contrast – a fully glazed internally-facing facade.
You can get a glimpse of this from the pavement outside as you pass by the slender vertical arrow-slit windows – look carefully from the Blackhall Road side and you’ll be rewarded with a view straight through the building into the quad it encloses.
Providing student accommodation, the Heyward and De Breyne building achieved Grade II* listed building status in 1999 – one of the youngest to be so rewarded.
As you can see from the above images, this building really doesn’t give a lot away from the outside. In fact, you might almost be better off checking out the reverse view along Lamb and Flag Passage to the Sir Thomas White Building at St. John’s – or go back up Blackhall Road to take a look at the houses at numbers 15-17.
Finally, the Modernist’s excellent publication “A Time – A Place (Volume 1)”, matching cars that won the European Car of the Year award with buildings completed in the same year, also features the Heyward and De Breyne buildings – matched in this case with the Lancia Delta.
Address: Keble College, Junction of Museum Road and Blackhall Road, Oxford OX1 3PG
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