China Centre Building and Library

China Centre Building and Library

The Dickson Poon University of Oxford China Centre Building is an academic facility owned by St Hugh’s College, created to draw together interdisciplinary research and teaching covering many aspects of China-related studies. The Dickson Poon University of Oxford China Centre Building has been built with support from some extremely generous benefactors, notably including the Hong Kong philanthropist, Sir Dickson Poon CBE, who kindly donated £10m towards the cost of the building.

Designed by the superb team of David Morley Architects, the new building has floor space of nearly 5,500 square metres (excluding the Chinese central courtyard and garden) over five floors. Its dedicated library and a reading room provides a permanent home for 60,000 volumes and a significant part of the Bodleian Libraries’ Chinese book collection. It also features a 100-seater lecture theatre; a dining room, study areas, a state-of-the-art language laboratory; and a green, ecologically efficient roof terrace, as well as a range of conference and seminar facilities.

The Bodleian KB Chen China Centre Library was officially opened in September 2014 in the Dickson Poon China Centre building in the precincts of St. Hugh’s College. It is part of the Bodleian Libraries and the University of Oxford China Centre and holds the principal teaching and reference collections relating to China in the humanities and social sciences in Oxford. The library supports both teaching and research in these areas. It comprises works in all languages on most aspects of the study of China and the Chinese diaspora except art and archaeology.