British architecture studio Foster + Partners has presented its plans for The Chapel & Lodge-project in Oxford. The transformed chapel will act as a restaurant and bar for the nearby Ellison Institute of Technology research campus.
While Foster + Partners had already been working on the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) research facility in Oxford – founded by the world’s sixth-richest man, US tech billionaire Larry Ellison – the firm has now entered plans for the adjoining The Chapel & Lodge-project.
The 19th-century chapel, which was once Littlemore Hospital asylum and had been transformed into office spaces in the 1980s, is set to act as a restaurant for scientists working at the EIT research campus. A lodge, which is located on the same plot of land, will be turned into a bar and entrance area.
“The Ellison Institute of Technology aims to reunite and restore both buildings into a cohesive public destination: a place that brings people together through shared culinary experiences. Located at the periphery of the campus and detached from the workplace environment, the buildings offer a unique opportunity to host and gather some of Oxford’s greatest minds to share a drink, enjoy a meal, and connect”, EIT said in an interview with design magazine Dezeen.
The project, which is currently in the planning application stage, shows a lush central garden in front of the chapel, which would be connected to the former lodge by a glazed walkway.
The overall design language will be similar to the one used by the architecture studio for the grade II-listed Eagle and Child pub renovation. That project, also located in Oxford and ordered by EIT, is Foster + Partners’ smallest construction site in years. The pub was founded in 1840 and served as the meeting spot for a literary group called the Inklings, with members including CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien.
For The Chapel & Lodge-project, Foster + Partners will once again be teaming up with heritage studio Donald Insall Associates.
While it is unclear when the The Chapel & Lodge will open its doors, the 30,000 square metre EIT research campus should be completed somewhere over the course of 2027. The campus covers a combination of previously existing, restored buildings as well as a newly-built addition. It will be part of the Oxford Science Park and will include laboratories, educational spaces, and an oncology and wellness patient clinic
