Major gift sparks new era for Radcliffe Observatory
Green Templeton College is proud to announce today a gift of over £3 million from the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation.
The gift will reenergise the Radcliffe Observatory as a focal point of the college and the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter – with a shared landscape and a new main entrance to Green Templeton College. The Radcliffe Observatory Quarter is set to become the new heart of the University of Oxford with the opening of The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities.
This project forms Phase 1 of the college’s plans for the Radcliffe Observatory. Green Templeton is also actively pursuing Phase 2, a project to fund the conservation and decarbonisation of the building. The college has already raised funds that have supported the early-stage involvement of the specialist architects and consultants working on the project. It is now working with individuals, other trusts, foundations and national funding bodies on a major fundraising campaign.
Principal Sir Michael Dixon said, ‘This is an important moment in the history of the college and I am grateful to Stephen A. Schwarzman for making possible the landscaping and restoration of the south façade of the Radcliffe Observatory to match its original eighteenth-century glory. This gift is a signal of the type of investment that the college is actively working to engage with to deliver our exciting vision and plans.’
Stephen A. Schwarzman added, ‘I’m proud to partner with Green Templeton College to enable it to undertake the first phase of its exciting plans for the future of the Radcliffe Observatory. I look forward to seeing an integrated landscape between the Observatory and The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities.’
Professor William Whyte, architectural historian, Chair of Oxford Preservation Trust and Senior Responsible Officer for building The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities said, ‘I’m delighted that this gift will kickstart the project to conserve an internationally important, Grade I-listed building at the heart of the Oxford landscape. The gift presents the opportunity to link the Radcliffe Observatory and The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities for both the university and local community.’
Get involved
More information about the project, including how you can support it through exciting naming opportunities
If you have any questions about the project please contact Domestic Bursar Teresa Strike.
The outline design is for illustrative purposes, alongside showing the overall composition and relationship to The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities. Whilst it shows a fairly well-developed design stage, this is very much an early sketch proposal and should be treated as such. The scale and alignment of routes and spaces has scope for further development and should not be considered final in any way. A full design will follow and will be subject to the necessary heritage and planning consent.
