Located on Oxford’s historic Cornmarket Street, The Cheng Yu Tung Building is home to student accommodation, retail units, a ‘rooftop’ Fourth Quad and learning spaces. MICA Architects’ vision for the future of the central Oxford college was to offer an innovative space for learning and community building, reflected by a contemporary style that complemented the surrounding historical buildings.
Szerelmey Contractors were tasked with designing, supplying and installing the stone cladding for the new Cheng Yu Tung Building in keeping with the surrounding urban landscape. We were selected to supply our Ashlar walling stone, which is a popular choice for exterior cladding in busy urban areas, in 600mm x 400mm blocks handset at 75mm thick. In total, you’ll find over 8,000 hand-cut, bespoke pieces of Ashlar stone across the entire exterior of The Cheng Yu Tung Building development.
Finished with over 700 tonnes of Clipsham limestone throughout the development, The Cheng Yu Tung Building blends seamlessly with both the modern and historic buildings of Cornmarket’s landscape. The cladding covers four levels and includes stone-clad columns on the ground floor retail units and feature windows with detailed cills.
This mixed-use development accommodates the busy thoroughfare of Cornmarket, whilst offering state-of-the-art academic facilities and student accommodation. With its modern, dynamic façade and stone features throughout, The Cheng Yu Tung Building provides a cornerstone for the continuous development of Jesus College’s expansion.
This was an incredibly fulfilling project to work on as it showcases an extensive range of Clipsham limestone applications and how they can enhance building design. The Cheng Yu Tung Building contains several courtyards, walkways, corridors and patios which are all faced with Clipsham limestone, so it’s hard to walk anywhere around the development and not see the excellence of our natural stone.
