Five Years of the H B Allen Centre

This autumn, we are delighted to celebrate five years of the H B Allen Centre at Keble. The site was officially opened by the Duke of Cambridge in October 2019, as the College entered its 150th year. Commenting on the visit, the then Warden, Sir Jonathan Phillips, said “The Centre signals a new chapter in our history, offering outstanding accommodation for our growing community of graduate students and providing state-of-the-art facilities to support research and spinout activities.”

The Centre is named in honour of Miss Heather Barbara Allen, founder of The H B Allen Charitable Trust. Miss Allen, who died in 2005, was a philanthropist with multiple interests. The Trustees thought it appropriate to make a landmark grant that would stand as a fitting and enduring memorial to her philanthropy.

Full use of the H B Allen Centre was interrupted by the Covid pandemic soon after opening, but it has since been thriving, with students, researchers and academic activities. Just 300 metres north of the main College site, the Centre includes bedrooms for students and visiting academics, multiple meeting rooms, and a state-of-the-art lecture theatre, named the Crisp Hollamby Lecture Theatre in 2024 in memory of alumnus Clement Crisp (1949 Modern Languages, French), dance critic for the Financial Times. The site is also home to cutting-edge technology, with tenants Oxford Sciences Enterprises (OSE), a key driver of the development of Oxford University’s spinouts, and the Oxford Robotics Institute (ORI), which is developing and applying mobile robotics technology.

Designed by an award-winning architect, the late Rick Mather (now MICA architects), the Centre has proved to be a fantastic facility for our growing number of talented graduate students. It is conveniently located immediately to the east of the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, which includes the Mathematical Institute, the Blavatnik School of Government, and the soon-to-be-opened Stephen A Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities. The H B Allen Centre has enabled Keble to build a graduate community that now includes 380 full-time and over 150 part-time graduates, making it comparable in size with the undergraduate community. Oxford-educated graduate students enrich the College and diversify the student body, given their mostly international profile. Graduate research addresses some of the world’s greatest challenges, be it in the fields of drug development, conflict resolution or climate change.

The H B Allen Centre also provides accommodation for our Senior Research Visitors, leading scholars, mostly from abroad, who come to Keble to share their ideas, and our Research Associates, usually post-docs, who join our community and add their expertise.

Since 2019, there have been two Academic Directors at the Centre: Dr Ian Archer established the role and handed it to Dr Jeremy Fix during his sabbatical in 2023–24. Under their expert guidance, there has been a lively series of lectures, workshops, seminars and discussion evenings, plus social events. The Academic Director has the task of engaging the MCR community.

Five years on from the opening of the Centre, we asked some of the people who have benefitted most from the site to share reflections:

Javier Pardo Diaz
2017 DPhil Statistics
MCR President 2018–19

“When I moved into the HBAC, it was still a work in progress — a construction site surrounded by scaffolding. But those early days brought the graduate community closer together as we adapted to the challenges. Over time, the building transformed into a welcoming and vibrant space for the MCR. For me, the HBAC is a testament to how shared experiences can strengthen a community and turn a building into a home.”

Annie Weldon
2018 MPhil Nature, Society and Environmental Governance
2020 DPhil Geography and the Environment
MCR President 2019–20

“When I think of the HBAC building, I think of the friendships that were formed through and within it. In a way, there was a camaraderie developing amongst the students as the building was being built the previous year and, as the building opened, the MCR community was flourishing. A wide group of friends — contingent only upon being at Keble — would gather in various spaces across HBAC. The MCR, the terrace, and the café hosted events for everyone, and the community was engaged and cared deeply about Keble MCR and Keble College writ large.”

Kevin Wang
2019 DPhil Migration Studies
MCR President 2022–23

“The H B Allen Centre has been at the heart of my studies and life at Keble and in Oxford. Its central location has not only influenced how I have lived within the city but also shaped the rhythms of my work and study. From the many social events to late nights spent working (and not working) in this space, and even the interactions with the wonderful staff, the H B Allen Centre has become more than just a graduate centre — it has become a place of safety and that of a home.”

Dr Jeremy Fix,
Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy,
Academic Director of the H B Allen Centre, 2023–24

“The most impressive thing about the H B Allen Centre is the graduate community and, in particular, its penchant for self-organisation. Whether running events where graduate students formally present their research to audiences of non-specialists or having informal social events where academic and social concerns intermingle, the MCR is constantly using the resources and spaces made available by the H B Allen Centre to ensure a productive and supportive academic and social community open and receptive to all.”

Jim Wilkinson
Chief Financial Officer, OSE

“When OSE leased office and incubator space in the H B Allen centre, we thought combining a prime location with close proximity to university departments, investment capital and students would prove special. It has exceeded even these expectations!”