Leeds College of Art and Design

Leeds College of Art and Design at Leeds University is benefitting from a significant multi-million pound investment. It is hoping to become the first specialist arts university in the north of England.

The £14 million five-storey extension will connect the new building to the existing Blenheim Walk campus to offer more courses and an enterprise centre for local businesses. The 65,000 square feet steel frame extension, designed by DLA Design, will include solar energy panels and an urban roof garden with a high BREEAM rating. Billington Structures provided almost 600 tonnes of structural steel for this project.

The extension will include purpose built art, design and performance facilities, which will enable the college to increase the number of students and bring in new courses. The current Blenheim Walk campus had reached capacity so the new building will allow Leeds College of Art and Design to continue growing while meeting demand for places.

Once the new building is complete some of the college’s higher education and postgraduate courses, currently taught at the Blenheim Walk campus, will move across to the new facility. In addition, the new building will allow the college to create a more diverse mix of educational courses including the introduction of BA (Hons) Filmmaking and BMus (Hons) Popular Music Performance in 2018.

Specialist facilities will include a 230 seat auditorium, music, film and photography studios, and a larger specialist arts library. There will also be an open plan atrium-style entrance with a public exhibition gallery and coffee shop.