Christ Church Visitor Centre

Historic barn reborn as a welcome experience

Introduction

Christ Church College, Oxford, commissioned Purcell to transform a historic thatched barn sitting within the sensitive Christ Church Meadow into a new visitor centre, complete with an interpretation area, shop, and café.

The project incorporates the re-use of the historic barn, enhancing the visitor experience at Christ Church and enabling the Chapter House, previously used as a tourist shop, to be restored.

Christ Church has many Grade I and Grade II*-listed buildings and is one of the largest colleges within the University of Oxford. It features a number of architecturally significant buildings including Tom Tower, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and the Picture Gallery, designed by Powell and Moya.

Although a working university college and Cathedral Church, the site has become a popular visitor attraction within the city and approximately half a million tourists visit the college annually.

The Christ Church campus sits next to the Grade I-listed meadow, famously inhabited by longhorn cattle. Within the meadow also lies the 19th century thatched barn, which had long been used as a store by the facilities department.

Our team delivered a comprehensive Conservation and Landscape Management Plan for the campus, strengthening the case for the conservation scheme. At the same time, we designed a sensitive extension to the thatched barn, shaped by thorough consultation with stakeholders, Historic England, and the local council.

The building is now home to a ticketing office, shop, an interpretation space, seminar space, and visitor facilities, providing enhanced experiences for the 400,000 annual visitors to the site.

Reuse of materials and heritage skills

Using traditional building materials – timber, thatch, slate and stone – the team ensured that the extensions sit in harmony with their setting. The orientation of the new additions was carefully assessed to help frame the views of the surrounding meadow and Christ Church.

Heritage skills were integral within the project in order to successfully refurbish the existing thatched barn. This is most evident in the barn’s thatched roofs and the work enabled many new apprentices to learn and work on the project, ensuring the trade’s legacy. The project has been very successful and demonstrates Purcell’s commitment to prioritising the reuse of existing buildings.