Shots of the Global Leadership Centre and pictures from the Schools archive.
Irene Tracey, Vice Chancellor, the University of Oxford
Good leadership is essential in an ever-changing and complex world. You know it when you experience it, but it's not something easily defined. As Vice Chancellor at the University of Oxford, I am proud of the many influential leaders we have produced and given to the world. Over our 900 year history, there are many forms of leadership and each leader has to find their own unique and authentic style to be effective in a global society that faces so many complex as well as exciting challenges.

Eleanor Murray, Associate Dean for Executive Education, Saïd Business School:
This building will be a lot more than just the bricks and mortar here will continue the Oxford tradition of inspiring and bringing fresh perspectives to international challenges and opportunities.

Roger Goodman, Warden of St Anthony's College:
The Osney Power Station will be a dedicated building for executive education, but it's important to point out this is not just for business school programmes, it's also for the Business School to provide a platform to help the rest of the University and its departments develop their own executive education programmes.

Eleanor Murray:
The Global Leadership Centre is here in the heart of Oxford on a beautiful site on the banks of the River Thames, less than two minutes away from our Park End Street campus. This is the site of the former Osney Power Station, which was a really important part of Oxford's industrial heritage. The power station opened on 18th of June 1892 and powered the first electric light bulb in Oxford.

Oliver Jackson, Senior Associate, Ridge and Partners LLP:
The power station closed in 1968. The building then housed the engineering department until 2005, then laid largely empty until 2021 when work commenced on behalf of the Saïd Business School.

Roger Goodman:
We ran an international competition to find the best architect for this project. The clear winner was John McCaslin and Partners award-winning architects, probably most famous for the refurbishment of King's Cross Station in London, and there's many similar features between that project and this project. In that we are retaining three of the four facades of the building, as well as a large amount of the internal industrial archaeology, such as some of the cranes that were used in the original power station.

Katherine Watts, Associate Architect at John McAslan + Partners:
It's been such a privilege to work with the university and Saïd Business School on this iconic and historic project. We've kept the form of the power station, the brick base, and the tall metal clad sheds, and the functional 1920s extension, which has become such a feature of the Oxford skyline. We are installing air source heat pumps and solar panels to sustainably power the global leadership centre.

Oliver Jackson:
During the construction of the site, there are four main phases of work. Phase one comprises of the demolition and dam works, the erection of a facade retention system to hold the existing facade in place, along with the construction of 115 metre long coffer dam, phase two comprised of the groundworks. This involved the demolition of the existing foundation and then the continuous flight aga piling of 240 paths throughout the site. We are currently completing phase three, which is the direction of the complex steel frame and facade. The steel frame includes a cantilever section and over 40,000 bolts holding the structure together. The final phase is phase four. This will see the internal fitout building. This includes the installation of mechanical ventilation, heat recovery system, air source heat pumps, and the interior fit out of the classrooms over 121 bedrooms and other combined space areas.

Roger Goodman:
What we need in these programmes is a residential experience where you can spend time together, that you can dine together, that you can have discussions into the evening together, but when you need to take time out to walk in the countryside, which is five minutes away, or in the city, which is five minutes in another direction, you can do that and then come back to participate again in the programme.