A GROUP of students has breathed new life into a disused building on an Oxford industrial estate — by transforming it into an art gallery.

The former sports hall, in the SERS Building, Osney Mead, is being taken over by 17 students from the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art for their final-year degree show.

The main hall has been divided into three, and both squash courts are being used, one as a cinema and one as a white gallery space to show off paintings and sculptures.

Jasmine Roberts, 21, who will be screening her films, said: “Without painting out the traces of the court, we are attempting to build a comfortable and intimate area for the audience to sit while they are presented with a half-hour programme of films on the enormous screen. The transformation has been epic. It has been hard work, but it looks really good.”

Everything from balconies to kitchens have been used to show off work from the students’ three year degree course.