News

Ainsworth Graduate Centre Open for Students

On Friday 13th March the Catz graduate community was welcomed into its new home. Honouring the memory of the late Master, Roger Ainsworth, The Ainsworth Graduate Centre will be a hub for the thriving graduate community in the college.

The building work started in July 2018, and over the past eighteen months the college community has watched the development of a striking series of buildings. Utilising the final available space on College land, we have created three new staircases and a graduate centre that includes an MCR, seminar rooms and a versatile space for academic work. The project has been essential in creating new student living spaces and the three new staircases has more than doubled the number of graduates that can live on site. The College is committed to creating a strong community, and integral to this is our ability to house our students within our grounds, where they can fully participate in College life.

Henrique Aguiar, Co-President of the MCR, comments that “As an MCR we are very excited to move into the Graduate Centre. We have witnessed the development of its construction, and we are extremely enthusiastic to have such an incredible building at St Catherine’s specifically designed for graduates and the MCR.”

The design of the Ainsworth Graduate Centre is exciting and modern; traits which have been applied to architecture at St Catherine’s College since its opening in 1962. Nicklaus Pevsner described the newly-built college as “a perfect piece of architecture […] It has a consistent plan, and every detail is meticulously worked out.” In the same way that Arne Jacobsen’s innovative, cohesive and brilliant design created a unique and unified example of modernist architecture in the heart of Oxford, the new graduate centre reflects these principles of elegance, function and style. The accommodation pavilions complement Jacobsen’s original designs, and the graduate centre itself is a distinctive counterpoint.

The graduate community will have use of this multi-functional facility, which will give them the space to thrive during their time at Catz. The project has been generously supported by our community of alumni, friends and donors, without whose support this exciting addition to the College would not have been possible.