Enabling the University to expand their world-class medical research, the Institute for Global Health at Old Road Campus took a step forward this week as it was unanimously granted planning approval.

The new building will bring together the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health and the Nuffield Department of Population Health as part of a strategic investment in this area with the aim of further strengthening their expertise. The University of Oxford already has the largest concentration of Global Health activity in the UK, and possibly the world, with research strengths ranging across the breadth of disciplines enabling it to progress the equality of health outcomes globally.

The 4,700sq.m project will deliver state-of-the-art facilities for 400 staff, and act as a landing place and home for Global Health activities across the University. Through clustering of Oxford’s Global Health activities, the building will provide modern, flexible space that will help to break down current silos, provide a focal point for engagement with external stakeholders, embed education and training firmly alongside research, promote interaction, collaboration, and innovation and enable growth.

Associated Architects Director James Hall said:

“We’re delighted to have received approval from the planning committee for this exciting project. The building aims to create an environment that facilitates collaboration and engagement across disciplinary and divisional boundaries – from long-term links with major strategic partners to serendipitous interactions between individual researchers and students.

Sustainability is a key driver for the new facility and it’s designed for Passivhaus certification. Low energy design measures are incorporated throughout, and the team have carried out embodied and operational carbon assessments. This is the University’s first use of a Life Cycle Carbon Assessment (LCA).