This is an architectural model of the Oxford Ice Rink designed by Grimshaw Architectsd and commissioned by The Oxford City Council in 1983. It was to be a facility and a social centre for young people. Its allocated site was a meadow on the periphery of the city, which meant that a landmark scheme needed to be created to draw the public to such a relatively isolated spot.

With a small budget and a site constrained by difficult ground conditions, Grimshaw took a structural approach to deal with these limitations. The building design comprises a large, centralised column-free space and thus a wide span to reduce the need for extensive piling. The building is in this way suspended alleviating the load of the widespan roof.

A spine beam, formed from a pair of rectangular box sections runs the full length of the building and supports the Ice Rink. This 'beam' is hung from two 30-metre high masts at either end of the building. The architects planned that these 'high readers' act as signs, visible at a distance from Oxford City Centre and function as a contemporary foil to the city's famous spires.

Its structural shell provides a column of free space and houses a 56m x26m rink. The cladding system is tailored to the building: two thirds of the Ice rink is clas in cold store panels to suit the function of the building, and the remaining facade to the north is fully glazed.