St John’s College held a limited competition in 2008 and chose AMA to re-design and refurbish this Victorian Gothic Building (Listed Grade 2), designed by Basil Champneys in 1875. The College reported: “The responses were all interesting and well thought out, and the College selected AMA Chartered Architects because their proposal was the least intrusive in the building and went the furthest towards meeting the brief in a manner which was sympathetic to the existing fabric of the building”.

Opened in October 2012, the design solution opened up the existing sombre core to give the building a new “heart” full of light, resolved the problem of wheelchair access throughout, brought into use redundant spaces – all to form an accessible cohesive whole.

The outcome has merited accolades of “Stunning” and “Sensational. Quite sensational” by College fellows. The new Main Theatre has been similarly described as having “superb acoustics” with “very exciting prospects for future concerts”