Construction milestone for £22m university building

Professor Simone Wonnacott with ISG senior project manager Dave Carter at the topping out of Leeds Arts University.

A £22m expansion at Leeds Arts University has achieved a major construction milestone as the building’s steel frame structure reaches its highest point.

The five-storey, 63,500 sq ft extension is a key element of an ambitious masterplan by Leeds Arts University (formerly Leeds College of Art), which gained university status last year, making it the first specialist arts university in the north of England.

The extension will connect to the existing Blenheim Walk campus, allowing the university to further expand, offer more courses and provide an enterprise centre for students.

Representatives from main contractor, ISG, and the university came together to mark the topping out construction milestone by spray-painting the university’s new logo on to the building’s floor slab.

Professor Simone Wonnacott, vice-chancellor, Leeds Arts University, said: “The ambitious plans for the expansion of our Blenheim Walk site have played a significant role in our aspirational vision for the future of Leeds Arts University. It is very rewarding to see the development taking shape, at what is an exciting time for those studying at the only specialist arts University in the North of England.”

Specialist facilities will include a 230-seat auditorium, music, film and photography studios, and a larger specialist arts library.

An open plan atrium-style entrance, with a public exhibition gallery and coffee shop, together with the enterprise centre, will also be built.

Tim Harvey, regional director at ISG, said: “Our universities are the envy of the world and it is by constantly innovating and creating a unique student learning experience that the sector will continue to thrive. Leeds Arts University has ambitious plans for the future and I’m delighted that ISG will play a role in translating the university’s vision into reality as these new facilities start to take shape over the coming months.”

Alongside ISG, other partners involved in the Leeds Arts University expansion are: DLA Design, the architects who worked with the university to draw up the bespoke design; structural engineers, WYG; GVA Apleaona, project management consultants; and quantity surveyors TB+A Mechanical & Electrical and Rex Procter & Partners. HSBC has helped to finance the building development.

Professor Simone Wonnacott with ISG senior project manager Dave Carter at the topping out of Leeds Arts University.

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