Oxford University held a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday 23 February to celebrate the start of construction of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities.
An additional gift of £10 million from Stephen A. Schwarzman to the project was also announced, bringing his total donation to £185 million – the biggest gift in the University’s history.
The building project is the largest ever undertaken by the University of Oxford and will result in one of the biggest structures to adhere to Passivhaus standards. Now that spades are in the ground, the centre remains on track to be completed in 2025.
The centre will boost teaching and research in the humanities at Oxford and provide them with a new home that will bring together seven faculties, the Institute for Ethics in AI, the Oxford Internet Institute and a new humanities library.
Professor Irene Tracey, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, said: ‘I am delighted that construction is now underway on the Schwarzman Centre site, and on track to complete in 2025. We are very grateful to Mr Schwarzman for his additional £10 million gift and I look forward to working closely with him as we move towards the building’s opening. The Schwarzman Centre has enormous potential both to benefit teaching and research in the humanities, and to be a place which makes a genuine contribution to the local community in Oxford as well as the national and global cultural sector.’
Stephen A. Schwarzman is the Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Blackstone, one of the world's leading investment firms. He said: ‘I was thrilled to break ground at the centre. It will play a vital role for students, faculty and the community and help position Oxford to answer some of the most pressing challenges of today’s dynamic world.’
The centre will house a full suite of high-quality exhibition and performance spaces, allowing public audiences to engage more deeply with the University. It will be a model for the essential role of the humanities in helping the world to confront some of the most pressing questions and challenges it faces today.