For eight centuries, Oxford’s approach to teaching has been rooted in the collegiate traditions that grew out of monastic life. Each enclosed quadrangle formed a self-contained world of study, offering scholars both community and protection from the unruly life of the town beyond the walls.

The organisation of Oxford’s academic disciplines evolved gradually, their boundaries often arbitrary. Over time, faculties found physical form in separate buildings, each with its own library, offices and sense of identity. The result was a university that was quite often siloed and introspective, united in name but fragmented in architectural space.

Hopkins Architects’ new Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities marks a deliberate rethink of these traditions, reflecting new ideas around the role of universities, and the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in academia. For the first time, the humanities – in which Oxford is a world leader – have a collective home.