To provide additional student accommodation New College has built an extension to the north of the original college site. David Kohn Architects have created an open quadrangle situation in which a smaller building with a tower and a horseshoe-shaped courtyard are combined with existing buildings and mature trees that are under a protection order. Organically curved in shape, the new elements nevertheless harmonise with the ensemble in a kind of modern Baroque.

Kohn responded to Oxford’s picturesque traditions in which urban elements are composed to form attractively framed views creating spaces that resemble stage sets. The irregular curves produce different views from every angle, producing constantly changing experiences of the buildings and the outdoor spaces. While details such as the stone grotesques and gargoyles borrow from the original New College buildings, rather than taking the shape of mythical creatures like in traditional medieval stonework they represent endangered animal species.