Professor Susanna Dunachie, Director of the NDM Centre for Global Health Research; Richard Haynes, Professor of Renal Medicine and Clinical Trials in Oxford Population Health; Trevor Payne, the University’s Director of Estates marked the milestone by adding the last concrete to the top of the building’s structure. Also present for the topping-out was Steve Vaux, Operations Director at main contractor Morgan Sindall. Work will now continue towards an expected completion date in summer 2026.
When it opens later that year, the £35m facility will house around 250 staff. It will bring together teams from the Nuffield Department of Medicine, including the Centre for Global Health Research, with teams from Oxford Population Health. It will also provide a UK base for researchers in the wider Tropical Medicine network. Its 4,500m2 of space over four storeys will include offices for both departments alongside areas to collaborate and socialise and flexible teaching spaces in the basement.
‘Global Health research addresses health problems worldwide, with a focus on partnership and equity,’ said Professor Dunachie. ‘This flagship building will be a world centre for excellence in Global Health research, bringing together international researchers to train, learn and share knowledge. The Nuffield Department of Medicine and Oxford Population Health will collaborate with multi-disciplinary researchers across the globe and within Oxford to support the discovery and delivery of life-changing solutions.’
‘Despite improvements in healthcare in recent decades, health problems still result in avoidable suffering and premature death for millions of people globally, added Professor Sir Rory Collins, Head of Oxford Population Health. ‘The new Global Health Building will provide a dedicated space for collaboration on some of the most important questions about the causes, prevention, and treatment of diseases affecting people across the world. It will also enable us to train the next generation of population health scientists in dedicated teaching space.’
'It's a pleasure to see the progress that's been made on this superb new building – one of the last steps in realising the University's long-term vision of transforming the Old Road Campus into a world-leading centre for biomedical science,’ said Trevor Payne. ‘It's also a vital milestone on our journey towards reaching net zero by 2035, designed and built to consume very little energy while providing comfortable, attractive, flexible spaces for teaching, research and collaboration. We look forward to seeing the completed building make a lasting contribution to work that saves lives and improves health all over the world.’
Here is a timelapse video showing the construction of the building so far.
The building is designed to be comfortable all year round without needing much energy for heating and cooling, with full Passivhaus certification to support delivery of the University’s environmental targets.
To do this, it will use clever design features to keep heat in during the winter while also staying pleasantly cool in summer – for example, windows that are carefully sized and positioned so they are in shade at the hottest times of day.
It is also built to an exceptionally high standard – for instance every joint and seam in the building has to be painstakingly sealed to provide much higher airtightness than a normal structure, so that the sophisticated ventilation and heat recovery systems the Passivhaus approach depends on can run efficiently.
