Philip Dowson, Arup Associates (1976)
The Sir Thomas White Building at St. John’s college was one of Dowson’s last in Oxford, and arguably one of his best.
Grade II listed in 2017, it shows a more refined evolution of Dowson’s “exoskeleton” approach seen on his earlier Oxford buildings, and is considered one of the outstanding university buildings of the 1960s. The outer edge of the building is clearly visible from (and indeed overhangs) Lamb and Flag passage, from where most of my photos are taken.
The merging of old and and ancient is particularly successfully here, especially as the new buildings have aged – hopefully you’ll get a flavour of this from these images.
Students at St John’s are lucky enough to have not one but two modernist masterpieces on their doorstep – as adjacent to “Tommy White” is the Architects’ Co-Partnership’s Beehive building – the first modernist building built for an Oxford college.
There’s more info on the Beehive via the college website here.
Address: Sir Thomas White Building, St. John’s College, St Giles, Oxford OX1 3JS
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