Editing Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford (section)

===Laetare Quadrangle===
[[File:Leatare Quadrangle, Lady Margaret Hall Oxford.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|Laetare Quadrangle]]

The Laetare quadrangle was completed in March 2017 and includes both the college's newest and oldest buildings. The main entrance consists of the front gates flanked by classical columns along with the Porters' Lodge (2017). Unlike most other Oxford colleges, the Porter's Lodge is freely accessible 24/7 to visitors and members of the public even during term time, and visitors are not charged for entry. It is also wheelchair accessible, and is participating in the Safe Lodge Scheme, in which students from other participating colleges who feel vulnerable or unsafe can go there and receive free transportation back to their own college, which is later charged to their student account.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/life/community/personal/safe-lodge#:~:text=If%20something%20has%20happened%2C%20or,services%20made%20available%20if%20needed.|title=Safe Lodge|website=www.ox.ac.uk|access-date=2024-09-12}}</ref> On the North West side the Donald Fothergill Building (2017) contains student accommodation while the Clore Graduate Centre (2017) extends further out to the South East towards the University Parks.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.lmh.ox.ac.uk/alumni/new-buildings-2007-2017|title=New buildings 2007–2017|website=Lady Margaret Hall|language=en|access-date=2017-04-02}}</ref>

The college's oldest buildings are along the southeast side of the Laetare Quadrangle. The college's original house, a white brick gothic villa, is now known as "Old Old Hall", while the adjoining red-brick extension designed by [[Basil Champneys]] is known as New Old Hall (1884).<ref name=":0" /> Old Old Hall originally housed the college chapel until the construction of the [[Deneke Building]]. Opposite the entrance is the Wolfson West (1964), which was previously the entrance to the college.

Old Old Hall, which had been built as a speculative development on land leased from [[St John's College, Oxford|St John's College]], was described as an "ugly little white villa" by the college's founder, [[Edward Talbot (bishop)|Bishop Talbot]] in his 1923 history of the college.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=1587104|title=Sir Reginald Blomfield's Designs for the Garden of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford|first=Eileen|last=Stamers-Smith|date=3 August 1996|journal=Garden History|volume=24|issue=1|pages=114–121|doi=10.2307/1587104}}</ref> On several occasions in the 20th century, consideration was given to demolishing the earliest buildings of the college, but the temptation was resisted.

The only remaining visible evidence of the road that used to run alongside Old Old Hall and past the steps of Talbot Hall are the two large [[linden trees]], which used to line the pavement before the road was removed to allow expansion of the college. The two smaller trees were planted during construction of the quadrangle. The recent expansion designed by [[John Simpson (architect)|John Simpson Architects]] was modelled after the [[Porta Maggiore]] in [[Rome]], in conjunction with the simple façade of the Wolfson West building.

The MCR, located in the Clore Graduate Centre, is named after the first female [[Prime Minister of Pakistan]], [[Benazir Bhutto]], who studied at the college from 1973 to 1977.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/oxford/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8661000/8661776.stm|title=BBC – Oxford University's famous south Asian graduates|website=news.bbc.co.uk|date=5 May 2010|access-date=2017-08-30}}</ref>