Vishuddha Yoga Centre is a new, purpose-built studio intended to serve Oxford’s whole yoga community. A feasibility study showed that the existing building could not accommodate the full brief, so the decision was made to go for a new-build studio, with the proviso that it had to minimise embodied energy and operational energy. This chimed not only with the ethos of our practice, but also with the practice of yoga which demands efficiency and low consumption. The building is respectful of its neighbours and modest in scale and while the form of the building takes cues from its neighbours, it does not mimic them in composition or material. The conservation officers accepted that the new building should be different from its neighbours, maintaining the visual break in the terrace. So, the façade is a contemporary composition clad entirely in dark copper enhanced with prepatinated copper on the facetted reveals, highlighting the apertures in views along the street. The interior is all about using natural light and natural materials to enhance the yoga experience, while at the same time allowing the building to tell its own truth.