Sustainability and social housing were at the heart of the success of the OPT Awards 2023, now in their 46th year.  Nine plaques were awarded across town and gown to projects which make an exemplary contribution to the City’s character, streets, and green spaces.

We were delighted to welcome Harriet Waters, Head of Environmental Sustainability at the University of Oxford, to present this year’s Green Award to the brilliant Low Carbon Bungalows in Marston and Wood Farm, delivered by OX Place.  This wasn’t OX Place’s only plaque, with The Curve in Cowley being recognised in the New Buildings category.  Another New Buildings winner was Bullingdon Community Centre, which provides fantastic high-quality facilities for the communities of Wood Farm, Lye Valley and beyond.

Nine plaques and fifteen certificates were awarded to a diverse range of projects which celebrate all walks of life.  In the Building Conservation category, plaques went to Christ Church for the exquisite restoration of the Old Library’s historic painted ceiling and pulpit, St John’s College for the sensitive refurbishment of the Canterbury Quadrangle, Old & Laudian Libraries and to Oxford University Museum of Natural History for the refurbishment of the Westwood Room, which, much to OPT’s delight, is now open for the public to view the vivid Pre-Raphaelite interior.

In Landscape & Public Realm, this year’s plaque winner was Marston Community Gardening, Court Place Farm Allotments, an exemplary community project.  Small Projects are always a special part of the Awards, with two well-deserved plaques presented for the colourful internal alterations and decorations at Corpus Christi RC Church in Headington, and to the decade-long project to conserve and laser clean the Monuments & Memorials in All Souls College chapel. 

Special thanks go to sponsors Carter Jonas, Critchleys, and Mathews Comfort Insurance Brokers, and to St John’s College who all supported the OPT Awards 2023.

Plaque Winners

 

New Buildings

-The Curve, Between Towns Road

-Bullingdon Community Centre, Peat Moors, Headington

Building Conservation

- Canterbury Quadrangle, Old & Laudian Libraries: Phase III Works, St John’s College

- Old Library Refurbishment, Christ Church

- Westwood Room Refurbishment, Oxford University Museum of Natural History

Small Projects

- Monuments & Memorials Project, All Souls College

- Internal Alterations & Decorations to Corpus Christi RC Church, Headington

Landscape & Public Realm

-Marston Community Gardening, Court Place Farm Allotments

Green Award

- Low Carbon Bungalows, Marston & Wood Farm

 

Certificate Winners

 

New Buildings

- Benedict Building, St Helen & St Katherine School, Abingdon

- Cheng Yu Tung Building, Jesus College

- Duchy Fields, Bletchingdon

- Low Carbon Bungalows, Marston & Wood Farm

- Premier Inn, Greyfriars Court, Oxford

- Swailes Superlab, Osney Mead

- The Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, Sherrington Road

Building Conservation

- Sundial House Library, Great Haseley

- War Memorial Library Restoration, Trinity College

Small Projects

- Accessibility Improvements to the OC Tanner Building, Linacre College

- Refurbishment of the White House Pub, Abingdon Road

Landscape & Public Realm

- Between the Sun and the Moon, Summertown

-Godstow Trout Weir Replacement

Green Award

- Building Fabric & Thermal Efficiency Upgrades at Cheney School

- Installation of ground source heat pumps, Liddell Buildings, Iffley Road