Nuffield College was founded in November 1937 by Lord Nuffield (William Richard Morris), the famous motorcar manufacturer. He presented the site and some £900,000 to the University for the purpose of erecting a college that would be principally devoted to the study of social, economic and political problems. The site formerly contained the wharfs and terminus of the Oxford-Coventry Canal; before that it had been part of the ditch around the castle.

It is a relatively small college, with a student body of around a hundred and an active community of postdoctoral researchers. The College only admits graduate students. Its compact size and specialised nature enable its students, postdoctoral researchers and fellows to work closely with one another in a stimulating research-oriented environment.

Catering for around 180 members of College for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Nuffield also has a very busy schedule of academic events and meetings to cope with, having 13 meeting spaces including a lecture theatre. The standard of cuisine is no less that would be expected in a 5 star hotel or fine dining restaurant. Over the years the catering and conference requirements have steadily outgrown its main hub in the kitchen and servery area. In 2016 Derek White of SHW Design, was first contacted by Olivier Goddet, the Catering and Conference Manager, after a recommendation from a recently completed refurbishment at Balliol College. Olivier had already started the ball rolling by looking into the replacement costs of equipment and the potential to save utility bills and the carbon footprint by changing to an all-electric kitchen. The last time any works had been carried out in the kitchen was over twenty years ago, and there was a definite need to refurbish.

After appointment Derek worked with the College team to set initial budgets, and it soon became clear that in order to get the best out of the space available, a total rethink was required as to how the space worked. At this stage Grant Jones of Sidley’s - chartered surveyors, was appointed to lead the project. Working with the project and Client team, a revised layout was agreed in 2017 and the development and planning for an opening in Autumn 2019 began. The Head Chef, Robert Murden, was very keen not to have any visual barriers across the kitchen, so that his brigade of chefs could have constant eye contact and instant communication with one another. With difficult ventilation routes, having very low ceiling heights and no ability to change the principle risers throughout the building, the idea of a central cook suite was developed, providing dedicated preparation spaces around the central suite. The cook suite was bespoke designed and manufactured by Athanor of France. Two additional bulk cook areas were created around the periphery of the kitchen using Rational Vario pans and double stacked combi ovens.

With no ability to create any drainage to one side of the main kitchen, SHW Design were inventive about how they made the spaces work. Cold room and freezer room additions helped with the lack of storage space, and by reorganising the existing servery layout and introducing a new service concept with a ‘high street’ restaurant pass effect, greater space was created without increasing the overall footprint of the catering areas. The main servery counters were manufactured by Proline using a new material for the counter tops - Dekton, giving a honed concrete finish with traditional oak fascia panels to complement the 1930’s original finishes within this area and the adjacent dining hall.

SHW Design were also able to incorporate dedicated preparation areas for vegetable prep, whilst meat and fish preparation were also given segregation. In addition, we utilised an old utensil storage area to create a bespoke pastry kitchen with its own Unox pastry oven and prover, and spot cooling to assist with delicate chocolate work etc. All the preparation areas were given undercounter Precision refrigeration to assist the storage of prepared foods, and the cook suite houses an Alto Shaam cook and hold smoker unit. The design also allows the head chef to have a clear vison of the kitchen from his office and the use of coloured panels of Altro Whiterock wall cladding break up the ‘clinical’ effect of just white walls using ‘Sheer Glass’ finish to some relief walls. The fitout was carried out by Shine Catering Systems and overall was a stunning transformation.