Gipsy Lane Masterplan
Successful university estate development depends on a fine balance between enhancing current student experience and ensuring marketplace competitiveness by planning cutting-edge facilities and spaces for future students. Achieving such a balance requires experience, leadership, and above all else, a tangible vision that everyone can agree on. On behalf of Oxford Brookes University, WWA helped develop a £150m, 10-year masterplan vision to dramatically reshape the university’s image and standing. From former Polytechnic College, to the present-day status of being a leading ‘new university’ – the transformation has been remarkable.
Before the masterplan was conceived, Gipsy Lane campus was dominated by a pair of ageing concrete-clad multi-storey buildings, with a mish-mash of disjointed structures and spaces between. From an urban design perspective, the campus turned its back on its strongest point of connection to the wider public – its presence on the arterial thoroughfare of Headington Road. The urban-scale response of the masterplan was to create a public plaza with shops and amenities along this road to effectively re-orientate the primary face of the university by 90 degrees. This creation of public space proved popular at the public consultation events facilitated by WWA to record and react to the views of local people. The masterplan also sought to prioritise wayfinding, accessibility, public presence, and space utilisation to completely redefine the user experience of students, staff, and the wider public.
Not all projects of such a scale are town-planning-led, but the Gipsy Lane Masterplan exemplifies how a planning-first approach lays the groundwork for long-term investment and prosperity. The planning context in Oxford remains nuanced and challenging in respect of the need to conserve its world-class heritage and avoid overburdening its struggling medieval road network. Major development projects such as this are better off planned and consulted on as long-term visions with the outline principles agreed, leaving detailed design matters until each phase is resolved in turn. The design and delivery of the masterplan was undertaken in consultation and engagement with local amenity groups, local authorities and the residents of Oxford. Following the principles of the masterplan developed by WWA, the Winchester-based architecture firm Design Engine went on to create an award-winning series of flagship buildings for the university. Images on this page are courtesy of Design Engine Architects.
WWA’s success at the Planning Excellence awards, in recognition of this project, is the result of 10 years of working with Oxford Brookes from vision to completion.
