The £40m Jesus College scheme to provide new shops and student accommodation in Cornmarket is just months from completion.

The design, construction and operation of the college's new Cheng Yu Tung Building means it will be one of the city centre’s first fully zero carbon buildings.

Jesus College is edging closer to the completion of this major development, its largest expansion since the 17th century. It includes some revamped retail units.

Workmen said they expected to be on site for about another eight weeks and the college said they expect the scheme to be completed by 'late spring'.

Oxford Mail:

The building, formerly known as Northgate House, will provide the college with additional postgraduate accommodation, teaching spaces, exhibitions and conferencing facilities and a high-tech digital hub.

Renewable energy technologies - such as ground source heat pumps, photovoltaic panels and a heat recovery and cooling system - have been used to ensure the building’s energy consumption is zero carbon.

Oxford Mail:

The college’s property director David Stevenson said: "Environmental sustainability is a key priority for Jesus College, and at the heart of the new building’s design and construction.

"It forms part of a wider strategy to reduce our carbon footprint across all our buildings, infrastructure and activities, including reducing our energy consumption, adopting renewable energy solutions to meet our energy needs, and managing our waste and water consumption."

Window design will maximum natural light throughout the year, and, when the lights are switched on, high-efficiency LED lighting has been installed throughout.

Oxford Mail:

Wherever possible, the building has been developed using high-tech materials from sustainable and recycled sources.

For example, recycled aggregates have been added to the building’s concrete floor slabs to maximise its strength while minimising concrete usage, and the cross-laminated timber that forms the structure of the upper floors comes from sustainable forests in Germany.

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The college’s construction partners BAM have followed best practice waste management processes to reduce the generation of construction waste, and minimise the proportion of waste diverted to landfill.

The postgraduate accommodation and new fourth quad are now completed, and final works to the Tower Room – a stunning new events and exhibition space with panoramic views across the city – are almost finished.

Scaffolding is being removed on the Market Street elevation of the building, allowing shoppers a further view of how the finished building will look.

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Internally, the fit-out of key spaces continues, including the development of the new NHS Primary Care Centre in the building’s basement, which will provide a new home for three local GP surgeries.

Mr Stevenson added: "When we began the development of the Northgate site back in September 2019, no one could have predicted a global pandemic and the challenges that emerged as a result.

Oxford Mail:

"But both the college project team and our construction partners BAM have continued to work throughout.

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"We have a wide range of trades currently onsite, from electricians to stonemasons, and all are working hard to ensure the building is finished to the highest possible standards."

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