About the Project

The Jackson Library, Exeter College, Oxford

That certainly made a headache of bringing in steel or timber beams long enough for an uninterrupted-span mezzanine floor. Jon’s solution was to use cross-laminated timber panels instead. The panels could be made small enough to fit through the doorway while also offering the benefits of off-site manufacture and on-site time savings.

It’s rare to be trusted to structurally support listed buildings. Jon earned that trust through his propping and needling expertise. And he didn’t just undertake major structural operations without damaging the historic fabric, he also demonstrated true value engineering, rather than disguised omission.

Take the bespoke lights on the library desks. The original all-in package for an elegant fitting with stalks running vertically to the desk or bench and integrating with the desk sockets and flat metal plates cost £150k. Jon separated out and repriced the elements, carefully co-ordinating the socket setting out to millimetre-perfect precision. The only noticeable difference was the cost: £50k rather than £150k.