Oxford University’s first all-female college has launched a RIBA competition to find architects to upgrade its grade II-listed dining hall.

Somerville College – which counts Margaret Thatcher and Indira Gandhi among its former students – said its wood-panelled hall currently struggled to accommodate events because of the “triple burden of oppressive acoustics, crude lighting and inadequate ventilation”.

Competition documents said the hall’s poor acoustics made conversation impossible when it was full to capacity; lighting was incapable of adaptation to the mood of different functions – and key artworks were not properly lit; while ventilation was limited to one extractor fan in the roof void.

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