Ruskin College (1913 building)

Ruskin College, 1913 Building

This is a steel-framed building clad in pinkish-red brick and Bath stone ashlar with a Welsh slate mansard roof. It represents the first phase of a comprehensive scheme designed by Joseph and Smithem, winners of a 1907 competition. Their original design envisaged a traditional Oxford quadrangle enclosed by buildings on three sides, with a through passage in the centre of the east range (facing Walton Street) and a dining hall directly opposite in the west range. The 1912-13 building constructed here comprises approximately 40 per cent of this scheme, including the entire east range with its entrance passage, porter's lodge and administrative offices, and the eastern part of the north range containing a large lecture hall and principal staircase. Both ranges incorporate corridors with tutors' offices and student bedrooms on the upper floors, while the senior common room occupied the first floor of the east range overlooking the quadrangle.

The building is three storeys plus a dormered attic, executed in a late 17th-century style known as "neo-William-and-Mary" or more commonly "Wrenaissance". This style is characterised by bold massing, strongly-modelled Classical forms, and striking colour contrasts between the soft red brick of the main walls and the yellow ashlar used for the lower storey, entrance bay, window surrounds and dentil cornice.

The main east elevation to Walton Street is symmetrical, comprising eight bays arranged 1-2-2-2-1. A two-bay projecting stone centrepiece dominates this front, featuring a large semicircular archway with the college's name in a scrolled cartouche above. Giant pilasters rise to the upper storeys, supporting a steep triangular pediment containing an oeil-de-boeuf window. The outer bays also step forward, their corners marked by rusticated brick quoins. The fenestration comprises a complex arrangement of square-, segmental- and round-headed windows: multi-paned metal casements on the ground floor and timber sashes above, all with moulded stone surrounds and projecting aprons. Inscriptions beneath the ground-floor windows commemorate the foundation ceremony of 8 February 1912.

The north range to Worcester Place was originally conceived as a grand symmetrical composition with a pedimented stone centrepiece matching that on Walton Street. Only its eastern portion, featuring a projecting segmental-pedimented end bay, was constructed in this phase, although the 1936 extension continues the range in matching style.

The quadrangle-facing elevations are simplified versions of the street facades, with most stonework detail omitted and the lower storey absorbed into the flat-roofed additions of 1964-7. The senior common room on the first floor of the east range retains a curved timber oriel and small balcony.

Interior spaces have been substantially altered but retain some significant features. The main staircase in the north range preserves its decorative metal balustrade and is adjoined by a bronze relief panel commemorating Charles Sydney Buxton (1884-1911), vice-principal from 1907 to 1909 and a major financial contributor to the new building. The hall to the east features a plain coffered ceiling and dais; its panelling is a later addition, probably from the 1930s. The upper floors contain central corridors lined with small bedrooms; while most doors and fittings have been replaced, some rooms retain original cupboards and shelves.

Subsequent extensions are not of special architectural interest: a 1936 addition to the north range housed a library and common room with student rooms above; a 1964-7 extension provided a dining hall, additional lecture rooms infilling part of the quadrangle, and more student accommodation; and a 1982 extension formed the west side of the quadrangle and contained a larger new library.