Project Overview

This project comprised the demolition of existing buildings, retention, alteration and refurbishment of Norham Gardens, and construction of new student accommodation buildings.

Designed by Wright & Wright Architects, Norham Gardens is a transformative project that unites heritage, sustainability and social impact.

Located in the North Oxford conservation area, the project provides 127 eco-friendly student bedrooms, kitchens, communal areas, and five ecologically unique character gardens to encourage an inclusive learning and living environment. The scheme includes the remodelling and retrofitting of a Victorian villa to support the colleges decarbonisation aspirations, in conjunction with the construction of three new Passivhaus buildings.

A key objective was to support housing growth by providing purpose-built student accommodation and releasing privately rented homes back to the local housing market.

At the time of the project’s inception, only 60% of students could be accommodated within existing college halls or houses. The scheme therefore delivers affordable, well-designed homes tailored to how students live, study, and socialise. Public benefit was embedded throughout the design process through holding public consultations with the local community and heritage interest groups. Student focus groups were held throughout to better understand how students use their living spaces. This input informed the overall layout of the development and the detailed design of rooms, meaning the scheme responds directly to contemporary student needs.

The accommodation is arranged in cluster flats for six to ten students, each with a generous kitchen that supports communal cooking and dining. This smaller-scale approach allows the buildings to integrate sensitively into their surroundings, respecting the historic character of the NOVSCA, one of the UK’s earliest conservation areas. The project also includes the careful retrofit of a Victorian villa, transforming a previously underused building into desirable accommodation while respecting the identity of the area.

Landscape design played a central role in enhancing the wider environment. Designed with landscape architects Bradley-Hole Schoenaich, the project demonstrates what can be achieved on a small site by improving ecological connectivity with University Parks and delivers an 88% biodiversity net gain. The gardens are conceived as a sequence of outdoor ‘rooms’ with distinct character, offering verdant outlooks and direct access from shared spaces. The front garden design reinstates characteristics of historic gardens of the surrounding NOVSCA through the introduction of new brick boundary walls, native hedge planting and cast-iron railings and gates that draw pattern inspiration from OPT design guidance for the north Oxford area.

Sustainability is the linchpin of the Norham Gardens project and informed the design from the earliest briefing stages through to completion.

Three new buildings have been delivered to rigorous Passivhaus standards, minimising operational energy demand through high levels of insulation, airtight construction and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. PHPP modelling guided each stage of the design process, testing heating demand, thermal comfort and overheating risk to ensure that performance targets were consistently achieved. In addition to the new buildings, a retained Victorian villa was carefully retrofitted using EnerPhit principles to substantially improve thermal performance while preserving the building’s historic character. Reducing embodied carbon was equally central to the success of Norham Gardens.

The project utilised a Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) frame with low embodied carbon cement replacements in the concrete elements. This strategy significantly lowers the carbon footprint of construction while also sequestering carbon within the timber structure itself. Low carbon building services further enhance the environmental performance of the scheme. Air source heat pumps located on the roof of one of the new buildings supply domestic hot water and space heating for the villa. Photovoltaic arrays integrated across green roofs on the new buildings further contribute to renewable electricity to the site’s demand. Externally, the buildings are clad in handmade brick and clay tile. Although higher in embodied energy due to the firing process, the materials are sourced from within the UK and chosen for their ability to weather gracefully and last the test of time. All glazing is triple glazed and optimised to promote ample daylight and useful solar gain, without the need for clip on external shading devices.

Eleanor Burnett, Finance Bursar, St Edmund Hall

“SDC Builders delivered the Norham Gardens Passivhaus student accommodation project for St Edmund Hall to an exceptionally high standard. Their team demonstrated a clear depth of knowledge in Passivhaus construction, coupled with a practical understanding of how to translate this into a successful build. SDC’s professionalism and commitment made them a pleasure to work with, and I would have no hesitation in recommending SDC Builders for similar projects”.