Our response to the public consultation on the proposed Science, Library & Partnerships Building at Magdalen College School:
April 2025
Whilst we do not object to the principle of development, we are concerned that the proposed demolition of the existing science building, the Quincentenary Building and part of the 1928 Building is not appropriately justified.
Though the proposed sustainability measures may reduce the new building’s operational carbon cost, the embodied carbon cost of demolishing the extant buildings and rebuilding will have a significant impact on the whole life carbon emissions of the site. An alternate approach of adaptive reuse - retaining the existing buildings - would decrease the whole life carbon cost of the site.
We recommend that a whole life carbon assessment is carried out before any decision is made to inform whether demolition of the existing property is justified.