The Emergency and Unrestricted Fund

A Modernist Masterpiece Faces Its Greatest Test

When St Catherine's opened its doors as a college in 1962, it did so as a bold architectural statement. Designed by the renowned Danish architect Arne Jacobsen, the Grade I listed buildings were conceived under his "total design" philosophy — every detail, from door handles to window frames, built to serve a single unified vision of an egalitarian academic community.

At the heart of that vision sits the Wolfson Library, home to more than 60,000 volumes and digital access to millions more. For generations of scholars, including multiple Nobel laureates, it has been one of the College's most vital spaces — a place of quiet study, discovery, and research that has shaped decades of academic achievement.

Now, that legacy faces an unprecedented threat.

Like many buildings constructed between the 1960s and 1980s, St Catherine's has fallen victim to a nationwide safety crisis surrounding Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete, known as RAAC — a lightweight building material once prized for its ease of use, now recognised as a serious structural risk. A 2023 survey uncovered widespread RAAC throughout the College's original roof structures, including the Library itself.

Guidance from the Institute of Structural Engineers confirmed the worst fears: the RAAC planks in question are inadequately supported and fall short of modern safety standards. Cracking, deflection, and water damage have pushed several areas to "critical" risk levels, threatening the buildings' structural integrity.

A Costly and Disruptive Response

The College acted swiftly, committing £2.4 million to emergency safety measures in the 2023/24 fiscal year, with a further £2.3 million required for 2024/25. But the interim fixes, while necessary, have come at a steep cost to academic life. Key spaces — the Dining Hall, the Junior and Senior Common Rooms, lecture theatres, and the Library — have all been forced to close.

Temporary facilities, including a marquee serving as a stand-in JCR and a riverside lecture theatre, have kept teaching and conferences running. But nothing has replicated the loss of the Library.

Where 120 study spaces once stood, only five temporary spots remain. Just 10% of the Library's collection is available for browsing, with the rest locked behind a slow, request-based system that dampens the spontaneous discovery so central to research. And the emergency library now operates on hours 40% shorter than before.

A Priority for the Future

Reopening the Wolfson Library has become one of the College's most urgent priorities. Gifts of every size are being welcomed to help restore this essential heart of academic life — a space that has nurtured scholars for over sixty years and one the College is determined to protect for the next sixty more.

To make a gift toward reopening the Library, visit the College's giving page.