Timber-clad indoor rowing training centre at Radley College, Oxfordshire, with stone boundary wall

Radley College Rowing Centre, Radley, Oxfordshire

How we improved Radley rowing


Roof panels re-used from previous project
Cost £1.9m
Radley has appeared 6 times in the finals at Henley Regatta since completion

Mulroy Architects designed the Radley College Rowing Centre, an indoor rowing training facility near Oxford, completed for £1.9m using roof panels re-used from a previous project. Since opening, Radley College has reached the finals at Henley Regatta six times.

We’ve collaborated with the estates bursar at Radley College for several years. The rowing centre is the largest project we’ve collaborated on, and is fitted to a very specific function, a unique use for which there were few precedents.

Interior view of the rowing tank at Radley College, showing the symmetrical training lanes

<p>The college is one of the top independent schools for boys in the UK, and its campus – near Oxford – includes hundreds of buildings, many of them historic. Any new development has to be sensitively integrated, and so much of our work to date has been in the form of feasibility studies to explore how it might evolve in the future, or small-scale interventions – upgrades to the halls of residences, changing facilities and so on. Similarly, the rowing centre is shaped by this context.</p>

Radley is renowned for nurturing elite athletes, particularly rowers, but the nearby River Thames is prone to flooding which limits the training time available and puts off younger students. To continue feeding rowing talent into Team GB, it needed an indoor tank where training could take place whatever the weather.

Exterior view of the Radley College rowing centre showing the long-span timber structure

Indoor rowing tank at Radley College with sliding seats and adjustable resistance bungees

Radley College Rowing Centre beside the athletics track

The resulting building has literal fit and flow, mimicking conditions on the river. The enclosure is a simple, elegant long-span structure clad in timber, fitting the minimum size needed for the pool and that of the roof panels, which are recycled from another project. A pier leads into the pool, equipped with sliding seats – attached to adjustable bungees to give resistance – and riggers to support the rowing blades. Sliding louvred wall panels give natural ventilation to avoid overheating and the build-up of chemicals from the pool, while a glazed end wall frames views onto the playing fields. Perhaps surprisingly, the stripped-back interior structure is rich in IT, with wall and ceiling-mounted cameras to monitor performance and a projection screen for giving instant feedback.

Glazed corner and timber cladding of Radley College Rowing Centre

Indoor rowing tank overlooking the playing fields at Radley College