Old Fire Station - Oxford

Oxford City Council and Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people, worked together to redevelop and refurbish the Old Fire Station in Oxford. The redeveloped Old Fire Station opened on 5 November 2011.

The building now houses a new organisation - Arts at the Old Fire Station - and a Crisis Skylight Centre.

Arts at the Old Fire Station

Arts at the Old Fire Station is a charity and social enterprise in the heart of Oxford, offering a range of performances and exhibitions for everyone, support for emerging artists and enterprising ways to sustain and develop art as a business.

They have a Shop selling original artwork, a Gallery with a wide range of exhibitions, a Theatre offering music and drama, a Studio for all kinds of dance and workshops for artists to make work. We also have space to hire for classes, rehearsals and meetings.

You can sign up to an email newsletter for events and other news on the Arts at the Old Fire Station website.

Crisis Skylight Oxford

Arts at the Old Fire Station share the building with Crisis Skylight Oxford - a training centre offering creative and formal learning opportunities to homeless and vulnerably housed people and a dedicated employment service which helps them find and keep jobs.

The Crisis Skylight Cafe provides on-the-job training, as well as great city centre food and drink to the wider public.

Working Together for a better Oxford

The two charities are doing more together than simply sharing a building. They have a shared vision for this new hub of creativity in the centre of Oxford.

• A centre of excellence for creativity, participation and enterprise.
• Breaking down barriers between people and groups through artistic expression.
• A place of change.

Creativity plays a central role in the drive to end homelessness with high quality arts activities and facilities giving confidence and opportunities.

The public spaces in the building are for everyone and the fabulous artwork in the foyer embodies what the Old Fire Station is about. The work was funded by Oxford City Council and commissioned from two local artists who worked with a group of homeless people to create a stunning permanent installation with a key message: "Change - when patterns are broken, new worlds emerge."

Site history

Site History (2300kB PDF)

Oxford West End Regeneration

The Old Fire Station redevelopment is part of the Oxford West End regeneration.

The West End Partnership was set up in 2005 as the driving force behind Oxford's West End Renaissance, an ambitious long-term regeneration project set to transform a currently under-used area of Oxford into a vibrant, modern and stylish quarter.

Visit the West End Partnership website for more information about the project.

Page last reviewed 20 March 2012