In 2027, the Ratan Tata Building will open as the new teaching and learning hub for Somerville College.
Standing at the heart of the redeveloped Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, this landmark development represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to expand Somerville College’s teaching and learning space, support research with global impact and generate new collaborations with neighbours far and wide.
Timeline and Progress Updates
Construction of the new Ratan Tata Building will begin in Spring 2026 and complete in Summer 2027. Weekly updates on the progress of the building, including a noise matrix, will be shared with members of the Somerville community and our neighbours, and can also be downloaded here.
Northern elevation of the Ratan Tata Building
The facade of the Ratan Tata Building, including oculus window
Artist's impression of the Ratan Tata Building including the Blavatnik School of Government
Atrium
Ratan Tata Building ROQ3 interior
A seminar room in the Ratan Tata Building
A tutor's study
Highlights of the Ratan Tata Building
A Hub for Teaching and Learning
Somerville College was founded in 1879 to offer women and people of diverse faiths an Oxford education when most institutions still denied them entry. From Nobel laureates to novelists, from suffragettes to spies, that radical energy has never left Somerville. The Ratan Tata Building will ensure that Somerville College is prepared to welcome the next generations of exceptional Somerville minds.
New Academic Facilities in the Ratan Tata Building:
- 5 tutors’ studies
- 3 research rooms
- 2 seminar/board rooms
- 1 shared study/break-out space
- 1 Reception Hall/Event Space
Sustainability
The Ratan Tata Building will make use of Passivhaus principles and biodiversity enhancements to create a beautiful, sustainable environment for future generations.
- Heating – Air-source heat pumps will provide low carbon heating and cooling (20 kWh/m2/yr).
- Energy – Energy-efficient glazing and ventilation will combine with demand-controlled services to limit waste. Solar panels on the roof will generate XX.
- Passivhaus Aligned – Built according to Passivhaus principles, the Ratan Tata Building is designed to maximise natural light and limit overheating, and will contribute to achieving the carbon-reduction targets adopted by the Oxford Local Plan 2036
- Biodiversity – The building will support a biodiversity net gain of +10% through the addition of 2 bat boxes, 3 bird boxes and 2 insect hotels. Planting will favour native British species to benefit local wildlife, support ecologically valuable habitats and boost biodiversity.
- Low-carbon materials – The use of low-carbon materials in the façade and elsewhere will limit carbon emissions over the estimated 60-year lifespan to 1,229 kg CO2e/m2 GIA.
A Home for Research with Global Impact
One of the key achievements of the Ratan Tata Building is that it will create a permanent home for the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development, a unique venture generating sustainable solutions for India and the world.
Founded in 2013 through a historic partnership between Somerville College and the Government of India, the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development is today the largest scholarship-granting body for Indian students in the UK. The Centre provides a dynamic bridge not just between India and Oxford, but between academic research and social impact.
The Ratan Tata Building is made possible by the largest philanthropic gift in our College’s history. The donation was made by The Tata Group in honour of the decade-long friendship between Somerville College and Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Group, Mr Ratan Tata (1937-2024). Mr Tata was the Honorary Patron of the OICSD, and a man who shared the OICSD’s vision of individual, social and political change through education.
Principal Catherine Royle and Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Group, break ground on the Ratan Tata Building in September 2025
Vice Chancellor Professor Irene Tracey, Principal Catherine Royle, Foundation Fellow and Tata Chariman Natarajan Chandrasekaran and former Principal Jan Royall
OICSD Scholars at Somerville College
Professor Radhika Khosla, Research Director of the OICSD, addresses the OpenAg Symposium 2024: Food Futures in a Changing Climate
OICSD Scholar Ritheka Sundar, a first-generation student dedicated to building an empathetic society
Field work by an OICSD Scholar
OICSD Amansa Scholar Tabina Manzoor addresses the UN/Univerity of Oxford's Right Here, Right Now conference in 2025
OICSD Scholar Sanjana Choudhary addressing an audience at Somerville College
Inviting Collaboration
The oculus window
A key design element of the Ratan Tata Building is that it is extrospective, looking outwards while inviting others in. The stunning oculus window embodies this invitation to collaborate by offering views into the building’s core and out towards the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter.
The Ratan Tata Building will occupy the last remaining plot of land available for development on the University of Oxford’s prestigious new Radcliffe Observatory Quarter. Somerville is deeply honoured to take its place alongside the globally renowned Blavatnik School of Government and the newly opened Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities in this new North Oxford campus.
We are committed to creating a building that will provide a hub that benefits the Somerville College Community, its partners and our neighbours for years to come.
Interactivity and collaboration will be promoted by the following elements:
- A flexible lobby and exhibition space
- An adaptable reception hall/event space
- 2 seminar rooms
- Break-out social space
- A roof terrace garden
- Intimate pocket spaces
The Ratan Tata Building: Artist’s impression of the roof terrace overlooking Blavatnik School of Government and Schwarzman Centre for Humanities
The Ratan Tata Hall
Artist’s impression of collaborative spaces within the Ratan Tata Building
