Talbot Building set to reopen following major refurbishment

These major works, completed to time and on budget,  mark the completion of the next phase of a wider £12M programme to refurbish the older buildings within LMH’s estate. 

The installation of heat source pumps to provide a sustainable heating source, alongside updated lighting and connectivity, demonstrate  the College’s longer-term commitment to ensuring all of our buildings, many of which are now approaching their centenary, are fit for purpose. 

For students and staff, these improvements are welcome. The building will be warmer and more comfortable to be in day to day. It now also meets modern standards for internet connectivity, which will greatly benefit our community as well as conference and event guests. 

According to LMH’s Interim Domestic Bursar, Tim Verdon, the Talbot Building was never designed to be used in the way we use it now. 

“The Talbot Building was built for much more austere times”, he explained. “Air was deliberately drawn through the building, so coal fires would function properly, and the students who first used it were issued their own buckets of coal for heating.” 

The renovation, Tim explained, marks a new phase in LMH’s approach to its estate, moving from creating new buildings to caring for and updating the ones it already has: “the College’s priority in the past has been to build new real estate (…) and now is the time to maintain the existing ones.” 

Students and alumni will be glad to know that the Bar has been refreshed as part of the works. Tim explained the improvements will make the space a much more pleasant and warmer area to socialise. 

LMH’s Director of Development Anna Bates explained that the Talbot project sits within a five-year strategic programme of refurbishment across the older parts of the College estate. 

“This all fits into our Building for the Future campaign,” Anna said, “It makes a real difference to the lives of the students and the people that live and work in those buildings. We need to ensure that we’re fit for a modern-day working environment and are providing the facilities that our community needs and expects.” 

Anna explained that much of this work has been made possible thanks to the generosity of alumni and friends, including several legacies. 

“The College doesn’t have the financial surplus to fund these capital works without philanthropic support. Part of our anniversary campaign will raise funds to help us cover the costs of these quite expensive, but really vital works. 

“It’s not about adding more buildings,” Anna said, “but making sure the ones LMH already has remain fit for modern generations.”.  

The works have also surfaced a few reminders of how long the building has been a central part of College life. During the refurbishment, the team found newspapers from different eras, including one from 1910, tucked away in the fabric of the building. It was the kind of detail that Tim said was typical of older buildings: “Sometimes you find bits that were just left under the floorboards, or that people just swept all their rubbish under and into things because they didn’t have skips”. 

With these works almost complete, attention will now move to the next phase – the refurbishment work of the Deneke building.