The Leeds College of Building mission statement is to ‘deliver a comprehensive range of high quality learning opportunities related to construction and the built environment’. The College’s Property Strategy, completed back in June 2009 identified a unique opportunity to deliver that vision by consolidating several of the existing leasehold sites to form a new, second campus in an area of Leeds that would be subject to major regeneration but which was also close enough to the city centre to access all available amenities and the local transport network.
It was not until January 2012 however that funding was in place and an architectural competition was announced to select a partner to help evaluate potential sites and design the new Leeds College of Building campus. Nearly 100 practices entered the first stage of the process and Fuse was one of six practices shortlisted and invited to submit outline proposals based on one of the potential new sites. At the time, Fuse had only recently celebrated its first birthday. The competition offered a unique opportunity to secure a landmark project on our doorstep and so we threw all our energy into winning the competition.
And win the competition we did!
This new campus will shape the lives of thousands of young people, as well as helping to further the careers of large numbers of existing construction workers, over the coming years. It has also created a landmark building in the South Bank area of Leeds, so it’s great to be part of this.”
Ian Billyard
Principal and Chief Executive
Leeds College of Building
I have to say that the new campus provides students with excellent facilities in which they take extra pride and care when working in. The workshops are large and spacious and the whole building offers incredible natural light wherever you are at any time of the day. At open events we have had so many comments about the innovative design of the building from the outside and the potential new students and parents are literally ‘blown away’ when walking around the inside of the building. ”
Paul Guise
Curriculum Manager for Apprenticeships
Leeds College of Building
Following selection, we spent several months carrying out plot tests in consultation with planning officers for a number of potential sites within the city centre. We also tested varied briefs for different scales of development as well as studying alternative phasing options and assisting with financial appraisals.
Early in 2013, the Leeds College of Building selected its preferred site at the corner of Hunslet Lane and Black Bull Street (known locally as the former Yorkshire Chemicals site) for a new campus to be developed in two phases. It is the first phase which has now been completed and design of the second phase is underway. Secured Skills Funding Agency (SFA) funding was secured – conditional upon achieving a BREEAM excellent rating – and the design was developed during the first half of 2013 in consultation with the Planning Department, Leeds Civic Trust and adjacent landowners. The Planning application was submitted in June 2013, incorporating amendments to address comments from members following an earlier Plans Panel presentation. Approval was granted in November 2013 and construction on site commenced just weeks later in January 2014
The saw-tooth form was generated as a direct response to the historic industrial roofscape of the surrounding area.
We also saw this as an ideal opportunity to integrate photo-voltaic panels (to be installed soon) on the south-facing roof pitches as a key component towards achieving the BREEAM excellent rating, whilst providing natural daylight to the workshops below via glazed North lights. Indeed, consistent with the original competition-winning design was an aspiration to introduce further daylight into the deep plan spaces so in addition to the North lights, the classrooms, library and refectory were arranged around a glazed atrium.
We also wanted to deliver a largely naturally-lit teaching environment without generating excessive solar heat gains. As the college had expressed a concern that too much glazing might create a distraction for students, we felt that the use of translucent Kalwall panels would provide an ideal solution by limiting views out whilst allowing excellent levels of daylight in. We also felt that the consistent diffused nature of the natural illumination was ideal for educational use.
We chose the Verti-Kal format (left and below) as it allowed us to continue the verticality and rhythm that we had sought to generate through the repetitive workshop bays along the Black Bull Street frontage. We felt that this integration of the traditional industrial roof form blended with modern technologies could become a distinctive and recognisable signature of the building and one that also had a synergy with both the construction education use of the building and the local area’s rich industrial heritage.
The Hunslet Road frontage called for a different treatment. This faced the three-storey Victorian frontage of the Printworks building (which coincidentally was recently converted into an extension to the Leeds City College campus – another Fuse project). Here, the glazed openings diminish in size at each floor level and so the new building responds in a similar fashion (below). The stone ornament which surrounds the Victorian openings of the Printworks is replaced with a more playful and contemporary interpretation in the form of brightly coloured reveals. The result is that the new building is starkly different to, yet is respectful of its historic neighbour.
Students began to move into the new campus in May 2015 and the building is now fully occupied.
Mike Harris, who led the Fuse design team, says:
“This building is designed to inspire the future talent of the construction industry. Over half the floor space consists of state of the art specialist workshops, there’s an impressive atrium entrance piazza, a stunning library area and a fantastic range of classrooms. All this creates a superb learning environment in a highly sustainable building that successfully prioritises all the modern building values of the 21st century.
“Moreover, this is the first major new building in Leeds that Fuse has designed and delivered and we are extremely proud of the result. Winning the initial competition was a major milestone in the Fuse story and the completion of the Leeds College of Building campus is yet another. ”
The Fuse Leeds College of Building design team was led by director Mike Harris. During the competition, pre-planning and tender stages, architectural design was by David Bradshaw and David Hall with interior design input from Scott Ryalls, with valued contributions from Steven Bell, Tracy Heywood, Carlton Campbell and Nathan Curtis. For the delivery and construction phases, project architect David Bradshaw was joined by James Smith, Iain McDonald, Tom Smith, Steven Bell and Susie Entwistle.
Project management and quantity surveying services were by Aecom (Rob Hardy and Josh Donnelly); M&E and structural engineers during the pre-planning stages were Buro Happold. Post-planning, the structural and civil engineer was 3E (Alan Liddell and John Mitchell) and M&E design was by Rotary (Ian Nunns). Landscape consultants were Re-form Landscape Architecture (John Simpson); highways consultancy was provided by Fore Consulting (Paul Irwin); CDM services were by WSP Safety (David Linnell) and the BREEAM consultant was GWP Project Services (Barry Rankin).
Main contractors were GB Building Solutions (Project Manager – Anthony Judge, Design Coordinator – Tim Hayes, QS – Mark Wright) and key sub-contractors included Highline (Tim Morgan) who were responsible for the cladding and HW Architectural Ltd (Mark Ramsden) who looked after the glazing package.
The project benefited from enormous support from Leeds City Council, notably from planning officer Chris Briggs and building control officer Basil Parylo.
Last but certainly not least, our client, Leeds College of Building, especially Derek Whitehead, Ros Scanlan and College Principal, Ian Billyard.
