Students excited to move in to Pembroke College’s ambitious New Build are concerned that construction delays might mean they’ll be starting the term in a building site.
Pembroke Bursar John Church contacted second years moving into the site to warn them of ongoing work. Construction started in April 2011 and was to be completed by the middle of the Long Vacation.
Delays, including the wettest summer in a hundred years, have meant that “residual works” will continue up to Third Week of Michaelmas Term. Despite the setbacks, Church said that overall he is pleased, commenting “at the end of the day, a very complex and ambitious project, seven years in the making, will end up completing on budget with a very short delay.”
Pembroke’s new buildings will be connected to the main College site by a bridge, the first such structure built in Oxford since Hertford’s Bridge of Sighs in 1913. The bridge is expected to now open in Third Week, and until then students will access their rooms from the main street. The site includes a café, 4 seminar rooms, a 170-seat auditorium, and 116 new en-suite rooms, enabling the college to offer accommodation to nearly all undergraduates. John Church expressed his delight at the developments, calling them “truly transformational in every way.”
Contractors Kingerlee, who recently completed work on St Johns Kendrew Quad, are responsible for the project. Internal work will be carried out during the first few weeks of term.
JCR President David White contacted students to reassure them that, “more noisy, structural building work will be complete… at the very latest, by the start of first week.’ The Bursar added that student rooms have been prioritised for completion, so that “students taking up residence can live and work normally, even if there are residual works on going elsewhere… these minor inconveniences will soon be forgotten once everyone is enjoying the fantastic new facilities.”
Second year Nick Hilton is a “little sceptical” of such reassurance, adding “the idea that plastering and painting … won’t have an impact on students in the building is crazy.” David Butler, Rent and Accommodation officer at OUSU has stated, “Pembroke JCR may be justified in asking for compensation if the College has failed to live up to its contractual obligations or students’ legitimate expectations. OUSU, as always, stands ready to assist one of its affiliated common rooms on an important issue like this.” Cherwell has found no evidence to suggest that Pembroke has been in breach of contractual obligations with students.
The possibility of compensation was initially discussed by JCR President David White and the Bursar. Such compensation would be unprecedented and only considered if the rooms were ‘untenable’.
Pembroke’s Bursar is clear that there will be no such breach of contract, and David White has pointed out, “Nobody has yet taken residence in the New Build, and therefore any discussion on action at this stage is purely speculative.” Regarding noise or disturbance, students were reassured that, “if there’s anything you can be sure that academics will fight to protect, it’s the sanctity of silence.”
White asked students to “stay positive”, adding “the vast majority are very excited to be accommodated in the New Build, are delighted to have the opportunity to use its facilities and are simply proud to be involved with it.” Mathematician Laurence Hutton-Smith agreed, summarising “shit happens, I’m still psyched about moving in!”
