Our city centre, Park End Street building was constructed on the site of the Oxford Rewley Road Railway Station. Prior to being a railway station the site housed Rewley Abbey - a 13th-century centre of learning for Cistercian monks.
We opened in 2001 as the result of a £23 million benefaction from businessman and philanthropist Wafic Saïd.
The state-of-art design of Park End Street is the work of leading architects, Jeremy Dixon and Edward Jones, also responsible for the Royal Opera House in London.
While modern in materials and approach, the design draws upon academic tradition, with a classical outdoor amphitheatre, columns and cloisters, oak-panelled, horseshoe style lecture theatres, two large outdoor garden spaces, and a contemporary interpretation of the traditional Oxford dreaming spires.