Cheng Yu Tung Building, Jesus College wins RIBA South Award 2024

MICA’s Cheng Yu Tung Building has won a RIBA South Award 2024. The award was announced at the RIBA South Awards ceremony on Wednesday 15th May.

The Cheng Yu Tung Building combines graduate facilities, indoor and outdoor communal spaces, a café and new fourth quad, state-of-the-art teaching and meeting facilities, and the Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub. The Digital Hub is a tiered forum centred on an open plan atrium that not only provides a convening space for the College, but also a new venue for conferences, events and exhibitions for Oxford. Above its entrance on Market Street, the Hub’s gatehouse is topped by the new Buchanan Tower Room, which houses the Rosaline Wong Gallery, and enjoys striking views across the famous city skyline. In addition, the new building is home to the NHS Northgate Health Centre, and new retail units on the Cornmarket aspect.

RIBA judges visited the Cheng Building in March, and selected it as one of six winning projects for the South Awards. Praising its clever design, and integration into its urban surroundings, the jury said:

‘In central Oxford you might expect find university buildings nestled among shops, bars, and perhaps a doctor’s surgery, but rarely will you find all these uses coalescing in a single building. Yet the Cheng Yu Tung Building delivers all this and more. It is both one and many, with different faces to suit, crafted by its architects as a new piece of city for Jesus College.

The new retail and commercial frontage on Cornmarket Street is carefully detailed with Clipsham limestone – historically used across the College – with reference to traditional details. However the biggest change can be seen from Market street, where the former backs of blank facades have been transformed into a new entrance for the college, with a healthcare centre tucked underneath. Through the integrated gatehouse, with new tower looming above, you will find a new digital hub, student accommodation, study rooms, and eve a raised quad.’

Following the South Award, the Cheng Building is now being considered for the RIBA National Awards 2024, which are announced later this year.

To read more about the project click here

To watch a short video about the project click here