Numbers 15 And 16 And Attached Walls

Numbers 15 and 16 are two houses built in 1963 by the Architects Co-Partnership, specifically Michael Powers, for St John's College in Oxford. They are constructed from concrete block with white facing bricks and feature concrete ring beams. The internal structure consists of timber for the first floor and roof, and both houses have flat roofs with projecting concrete tank housings.

These houses are larger in plan than No. 17, which was also designed by the same architects. They are semi-detached and arranged in echelon with mirrored plans. The facades display concrete ring beams as inset banding in the brickwork, which project to form hoods over the front doors and at the roof level to create rainwater hoppers. The houses are set behind an earlier stone wall along the street and an earlier stone garden wall that extends from the houses.

On the entrance front, the principal windows are arranged vertically to create continuous bands, with narrow horizontal windows extending to the corners on the first floor. The rear elevations have a similar window configuration. A single-storey extension was added to No. 16 in 1973, designed by Cluttons, which complements the main building's design.

Inside, No. 15 features a plastered ceiling, while No. 16 has pine-boarded ceilings. Both houses include frameless doors and some fitted pine units between the dining room and kitchen, as well as linen cupboards and dressing tables. The ground floors are finished with black quarry tile, while the first floors have pine flooring. Hallways feature exposed brick, and a timber ladder stair rises in a curved well.

These houses represent a carefully detailed group of Fellows' residences for St John's College, Oxford, and are notable as rare domestic works by this prominent architectural practice from the post-war period. The grey brick and concrete materials provide a Brutalist interpretation of the traditional stone color found in Oxford, while being tactfully screened from the street.