Editing St Catherine's College, Oxford (section)

==Buildings==
===Original buildings===
[[File:Catz Hall.jpg|thumb|right|Jacobsen's bespoke furniture and lighting in the Hall]]
The college is located to the east of central Oxford, on the banks of the [[River Cherwell]]. Its buildings in glass, brick, and concrete, by the Danish architect [[Arne Jacobsen]], marry modern materials with a traditional Oxford college layout centred on a [[Quadrangle (architecture)|quadrangle]]. Jacobsen designed everything, including the furniture, cutlery, lampshades, and the college gardens, down to the choice of fish species for the pond.

The original St Catherine's buildings are recognised as one of the world's most distinguished examples of modernist design, described by architectural historian [[Nikolaus Pevsner]] as "a perfect piece of architecture",<ref>{{cite book |last=Pevsner |first=Nikolaus |author-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |date=1974 |title=The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F2QwMeMZO5wC&q=pevsner.+buildings+of+england+oxford |location=New Haven (USA) |publisher=Yale University Press |page=240 |isbn=0300096399}}</ref> and said to have been the architect's personal favourite among his own works. Jacobsen's designs for the college have been the subject of various art and design exhibitions.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.modernartoxford.org.uk/event/exhibition-8/ |title=How to be Modern: Arne Jacobsen in the 21st Century |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=20 April 2002 |website=ModernArtOxford.org.uk |publisher=Modern Art Oxford |access-date=13 August 2021 |quote=This exhibition celebrated Jacobsen's enduring importance as one of the most significant architects and designers of the 20th century, including his designs for St Catherine's College, Oxford.}}</ref> The original college buildings received a [[listed building|Grade I listing]] in 1993.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1229934&resourceID=5 |title=Listed Buildings Online – St Catherines College, Podium And All Buildings Upon It |access-date=16 September 2008 |work=Heritage Gateway}}</ref> In 2020, the college gardens, also designed by Jacobsen, were upgraded to the highest level of protection by [[Historic England]] for historical and design interest.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1001388 |title=Landscape at St Catherine's College |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=18 August 2020 |website=HistoricEngland.org.uk |publisher= Historic England |access-date=13 August 2021 |quote=The designed landscape at St Catherine's College, Oxford, designed by Arne Jacobsen, and laid out in the mid-1960s, is included on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Historic Interest at Grade I}}</ref>

Jacobsen's plans for the college did not include a chapel, which is unusual among Oxford colleges: [[St Cross Church, Oxford|St Cross Church]] on the corner of [[Manor Road, Oxford|Manor Road]] and [[Longwall Street]] served this purpose before its decommission in 2008. The St Catherine's Christmas carol concert is now held in [[Harris Manchester College]]'s chapel. The college has a bell tower, particularly visible since no college building is more than three storeys high. An extra floor was reputedly planned for most accommodation blocks, but due to regulations concerning safe building on marshland, this was removed from the final design. The entrance to the college by the water garden was remodelled by Sir Philip Howell in 1968.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=St Catherine's College|url=https://90years.buildingcentre.co.uk/building/st-catherines-college/|access-date=24 December 2021 |website=Building Centre|language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:St Catherine's College, Oxford - geograph.org.uk - 1289366.jpg|thumb|left|Accommodation]]
St Catherine's has a number of lecture theatres and seminar rooms, a music house, two student computer rooms, a small gym, squash courts, a punt house, a [[Listed building|Grade I listed]] [[St Catherine's College Bicycle Store|bike shed]]<ref>{{NHLE|num=1229973|desc=St Catherine's College Bicycle Store|grade=I|access-date=3 December 2023}}</ref> and among the most spacious common rooms in Oxford. There are also additional purpose-built conference facilities with lecture theatres, meeting rooms and bar, music room, and car parking available for non-students. The dining hall, which seats 350 diners, has the largest capacity of any Oxford college.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stcatz.ox.ac.uk/college/buildings-and-grounds|title=Buildings and Grounds – www.stcatz.ox.ac.uk|publisher=University of Oxford|access-date=3 April 2018}}</ref>

St Catherine's also has a library with over 55,000 volumes, which is used mainly by undergraduates in all the disciplines taught at the college, as well as 14 computer terminals.<ref name="Library & IT">{{Cite web|title=Library & IT|url=https://www.stcatz.ox.ac.uk/catz-students/library-it/|access-date=3 June 2020 |website=St Catherine's College|language=en-US}}</ref> Law students have additional resources located in the college law library, which is in the Bernard Sunley building.<ref name="Library & IT"/> Most tutorials are carried out in college, though some undergraduates may be sent to other colleges. For additional resources, the college is next to the [[Social Science Library, Oxford]] and [[Faculty of Law, University of Oxford]], which matriculated students are free to use.<ref>{{cite web |title=Social Science Library |url=https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/libraries/ssl |website=Bodleian Oxford |language=en}}; {{cite web |title=Borrowing at the Social Science Library |url=https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/libraries/ssl/borrowing |website=Bodleian Oxford |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Law Library |url=https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/libraries/law |website=www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk |language=en}}; {{cite web |title=Using the Law Library |url=https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/libraries/law/using-this-library |website=www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref>

The majority of St Catherine's buildings are in the form of staircases{{efn|In the tradition of the colleges of Oxbridge and other UK universities, a ''staircase'' is a set of students' rooms, with a ground-floor entrance to a quadrangle.}} that open directly onto the quad(s) outside; these are filled with student rooms and office space. There is little indoor space in the college and St Catherine's favours a minimalist, rather austere environment, though still comfortable. Student rooms are light and spacious, notable for their curtain wall glazing.<ref name=":0"/> The Built Environment Trust, and its public face [[The Building Centre]], in 2021 named the college's buildings as among the 90 most influential UK buildings or public spaces from the last 90 years.<ref name=":0"/>

===RAAC concrete===

In September 2023 following [[2023 United Kingdom reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete crisis|reviews]] of the college site for [[reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete]] (RAAC) it was discovered a number of buildings contained RAAC. This has prompted the temporary closure of many of the communal spaces such as the JCR, Hall, kitchens and library.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.stcatz.ox.ac.uk/raac-at-st-catherines-college/ | title=RAAC at St Catherine's College | date=8 September 2023 }}</ref>

===Extensions===
The college was first expanded in 1983 by [[Knud Holscher]], Jacobsen's assistant.<ref name=EH>{{cite book |author1=Elain Harwood |author1-link=Elain Harwood |title=Mid-Century Britain: Modern Architecture 1938-1963 |date=2021 |publisher=[[Batsford Books]] |isbn=978-1-84994-686-5 |page=152}}</ref> It was also extended by [[Stephen Hodder]] in two phases, the first from 1994 to 1995 and the second from 2002 to 2005.<ref name=EH/> The first phase included 54 student rooms and the second phase included 132 student rooms, a new porters' lodge and four seminar rooms.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Pamela Buxton |title=Hindsight: Stephen Hodder on the unquenchable pursuit of design excellence |url=https://www.ribaj.com/culture/hindsight-stephen-hodder |website=[[RIBA Journal]] |access-date=9 November 2022 |date=20 September 2022}}</ref> These new buildings form a second quad called 'New Quad' (in comparison to the Jacobsen-designed 'Old Quad'), which is largely used as second-year student accommodation.<ref name="apply.oxfordsu"/>

=== Graduate building ===
In 2017, [[Purcell (architects)|Purcell Architects]] gained planning permission for a further extension at the college.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Ella Braidwood |title=Purcell wins planning for extension at Arne Jacobsen's Oxford college |url=https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/purcell-wins-planning-for-extension-at-arne-jacobsens-oxford-college |website=[[Architects' Journal]] |access-date=9 November 2022 |date=16 October 2017}}</ref> The facilities aimed to resemble Jacobsen's original designs and was built on the college's last available development space.<ref>{{Cite web|date=17 October 2017 |access-date=4 June 2020 |last=Dunton |first=Jim |title=Purcell gets go-ahead for St Catherine's College expansion |website=Building Design |language=en |url=https://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/purcell-gets-go-ahead-for-st-catherines-college-expansion/5090141.article}}</ref> Purcell consulted with [[Stephen Hodder]], who constructed the additional buildings on site during the 1994 and 2004 extensions, when designing the centre.<ref name=":0"/> The Ainsworth Graduate Centre is named in honor of [[Roger Ainsworth]], the previous Master of the college. Construction started in July 2018,<ref>{{cite web |title=A New Home for Catz Graduates |url=https://www.stcatz.ox.ac.uk/a-new-home-for-catz-graduates/ |website=St Catherine's College, Oxford |date=28 June 2019 |access-date=9 November 2022}}</ref> and was completed in 2019.<ref name=EH /> The centre opened in March 2020 and includes seminar rooms and space for academic works. It also expanded graduate accommodation by creating three new staircases, which contain 78 single rooms with en-suite facilities and a new common room.<ref>{{Cite web|date=13 March 2020 |title=Ainsworth Graduate Centre Open for Students|url=https://www.stcatz.ox.ac.uk/ainsworth-graduate-centre-open-for-students/|access-date=4 June 2020 |website=St Catherine's College|language=en-US}}</ref> This is in addition to 42 single rooms, with shared bathroom and cooking facilities, in St Catherine's House, which is off-site on Bath Street.<ref name="StC key facts">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/colleges/st-catherines-college?wssl=1|title=Admissions―Graduate―Colleges―St Catherine's College: About the college: Key facts |website=University of Oxford |access-date=22 February 2020}}</ref>