St Catherine’s College RAAC remediation to begin
St Catherine’s College is very pleased to announce that it has signed a construction contract to replace roof structures comprising “Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete” (RAAC) in the grade 1 listed Arne Jacobsen buildings. The College was pleased to receive planning permission from the Oxford City Council on 30 July 2024 and have since been collaborating with Beard Construction to execute the work, to bring the buildings back into operational use.
The initial work, to be completed by Beard over the next three months, involves erecting scaffolding to provide temporary roofing structures, and to provide internal protection to the historic fabric that the structures comprise. The first building to be remediated will be the single-storey Junior Common Room, Senior Common Room, Administration Offices and the Kitchen. It is expected that the removal of RAAC will commence early in the New Year, with the roof replacement beginning from March 2025, and the buildings ready for use by July 2025. The College Dining Hall will follow, with expectation that it will be available from November 2025, and the Bernard Sunley Building is expected to be ready by January 2026. The College continues to explore the feasibility of re-roofing the Wolfson Library, with the Student Accommodation rooms to follow in due course, as funding permits.
Commenting on the news, Home Bursar Inge Rossouw-Smith said: ‘We’re pleased to begin the important work of replacing the RAAC roof structures in our historic buildings. Working with Beard, we’re confident the project will be handled with care, ensuring our spaces are ready for future use for our students, Fellows, staff and community at large.
Beard commented: ‘We are honoured to be entrusted with the restoration of St Catherine’s grade 1 listed Arne Jacobsen buildings. We look forward to successfully completing the RAAC removal and roof replacement to return the buildings to operational use.’
Further details about the RAAC remediation project, including the design and access statement and the heritage statement, can be found on a dedicated page here: RAAC at St Catherine’s College.