The striking new Mathematical Institute, designed by Rafael Viñoly, is a three-block scheme with a pair of five-storey wings joined by a two-storey glazed entrance lobby.
Oxford University is still in talks about securing all the funding necessary to start the next phase of what will make up part of the biggest building programme seen for more than a century.
The work boom will be concentrated on the £200m redevelopment of the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, where the plan is to build the Mathematics Institute and a new Humanities University building and library alongside.
The redevelopment is likely to be started in phases as funding is released to develop the new seat of learning at the last major site in Oxford.
Laing O’Rourke is already working at one end of the site on an £11m new student accommodation block for Oxford University’s Somerville College.