Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies

There are several standard sized pay and display parking spaces on Winchester Road – some directly outside the Nissan Institute. Blue Badge holders are able to park here free of charge for unlimited periods. For further information on parking, please follow the link below to the City Council’s useful Accessible Oxford Guide.

There is one accessible parking space at St Antony’s College. More details to follow.

• Oxford Blue Badge parking map (PDF)

The Nissan Institute is situated in the grounds of St Antony’s College but has its own separate entrance on Winchester Road. There are large metal gates here – one is held open during opening hours and is easily wide enough for a wheelchair to pass through. There are 5 steps up to the entrance doors – the steps have a handrail to the left but no contrasting edge markings. There are automatic powered sliding doors opening onto an entrance hallway.

The level entrance is at the rear of the building. Come through the metal gates on Winchester Road and turn right – follow the signs marked “Ramp”. Then follow the path around the building until you reach the automatic powered sliding doors. The path slopes gently up, down, then up again until you reach a level area and the entrance doors. Although wide, the path is uneven in places with a few loose paving stones in the section along the front of the building. The final section of the ramp at the back of the building has a handrail to the right (ascending). The handrail is in three horizontal sections so does not follow the rise of the ramp. 

The level entrance has automatic powered sliding doors which open onto a large lobby.

The level area at the rear of the building has steps down to St Antony’s College – there is no visual or tactile warning to indicate the presence of the steps. The steps do not have any contrasting marking on the step edges. 

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The Nissan Institute does not have a reception. Please contact the department in advance with any access queries.

The building also contains the Bodleian Japanese Library which does have a staffed enquiry desk. Please see the library section for more details.

Accessible toilets

The accessible toilet is on the ground floor in the corridor containing the student workspaces. Some people may find the sink hard to use as the grab rails are set relatively high up and are also set back – see picture below. There are well placed grab rails either side of the toilet.

Standard toilets

The toilets are in the basement and can only be reached by stairs (there is an accessible toilet on the ground floor). The stairs have continuous handrails both sides, and contrasting markings on the step edges. There are male and female toilets in the basement.

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There is a passenger lift between the ground floor and first floor only.

At ground floor level the call button is well placed for wheelchair users. At first floor level the call button is at a good height, but is in a corner so may be difficult to reach for some wheelchair users.

The lift doorway is 80 cm wide. The lift dimensions are 110 cm wide and 140 cm deep; this should accommodate most wheelchairs although is too small for most wheelchairs to turn around. There is no mirror in place to help with manoeuvring. The control buttons may be too high for some wheelchair users to reach at 127 cm, 134 cm and 139 cm from floor level.

There is a display but no voice announcement, and no tactile buttons or information in braille. There is a grab rail in place. 

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The stairs from the ground floor to the toilets in the basement have contrasting markings on the step edgings and continuous hand rails both sides. 

The stairs from the ground floor to the first floor have open risers and no contrast on the step edgings. There are continuous handrails both sides, and a curved central landing.

There is a spiral staircase in the library between the ground floor and basement. The steps have open risers and contrasting anti-slip treads. There are continuous handrails both sides.

There are steps in the lecture theatre. These do not have handrails, but do have contrasting step edgings.

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Both the main entrance, and the level entrance, have powered sliding doors which open automatically during opening hours.  The doors between the ground floor lobby and main corridor are also powered and operated by a push button at an accessible height for wheelchair users. The doors into the library are powered and operated by a push button at an accessible height for wheelchair users.

All other doors are manually operated.

The lecture theatre doors have no vision panel, and have pull handles at a good height for wheelchair users. Some people may find it hard to reach the handles as the doors are set back and therefore the opening edge of the door is in a corner. However, the doors will usually be held open at the start and end of lectures.

Some rooms have doors with no vision panels, high contrast handles and entrances that some wheelchair users may find rather narrow. The entrance widths are shown below:

• Seminar room – 71 cm
• Student workspace Room A – 76 cm
• Student workspace Room B – 72 cm
• Student workspace Room C – 72 cm
• Student workspace Room D 72 cm

On the first floor, the doors into the corridor containing the academic offices are held open, as are the doors into the common room. Office doors do not have vision panels and have high contrast door handles. Office entrances are wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs. 

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The lecture theatre is on the ground floor off the central lobby area. There are two manually operated doors into the lecture theatre. Both doors are recessed, meaning that the pull handle is in a corner (see photos). However, the doors are usually held open at the start and end of lectures. There is no real contrast between the door and the surroundings, although the pull handle is high contrast.

Through the doors there is level access into the top level of the lecture theatre. There is space for wheelchairs at this top level although the view to the stage may be restricted by the first row of seating at busy times. There is banked rows of seating sloping down to the stage. There are steps down to the stage at either side of the theatre – these have contrasting edgings but there are no handrails in place. There is one step up onto the stage. 

There is an induction loop installed in the lecture theatre.

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There is a seminar room and several student workrooms on the ground floor - there is level access to all of these rooms. 

The main seminar room is opposite the level entrance at the rear of the building. At 71 cm the doorway is narrow; the door is also difficult to open requiring a high amount of force. Once inside, the seminar room has a good amount of manoeuvring space. Tables and chairs can be rearranged as needed. There is a whiteboard and loudspeakers but no hearing support system.

The student workrooms are all located on the corridor by the main entrance. These small rooms are used as work spaces and seminar rooms. All have narrow doorways – see doors section for details. There are no hearing support systems in these rooms.

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The common room is on the first floor and can be reached by either stairs or lift. The double doors into the common room are usually held open. There are several low chairs and coffee tables. There is a good amount of space to manoeuvre and furniture can be moved if needed.  There is also a small kitchen area for preparing hot drinks – this does not have any wheelchair accessible features.

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The Bodleian Japanese Library is located within the Nissan Institute.

The doors into the library are powered and operated by push buttons located at an accessible height for wheelchair users. Once through the doors, the information desk is on the left. There is an induction loop in place at the desk. There is a lowered section of the desk although this is used as a staff working area. Staff are happy to come out from behind the desk to speak to people if needed.

The main reading room of the library is on the ground floor. There are a few high bookshelves here, staff can assist people unable to reach the higher or lower shelves. There are also desks in the reading room; most wheelchair users will find that the desks are too low to fit under comfortably – 66 cm to the underside of the desks. In addition there is only a short recessed space under the desk of 25 cm. However, there is a height adjustable desk available as well as an ergonomic chair.

The main collection and book stacks are in the basement which can only be reached by a spiral staircase. The steps have open risers and contrasting anti-slip treads. There are continuous handrails both sides. Staff will assist and collect books for those unable to reach the basement.

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There are induction loops fitted in the lecture theatre and at the library information desk.