Finishing touches for University of Leeds' Fine Arts building

Work on the Grade II listed building is about weeks away from completion and doors, sanitary provisions, radiators, handles, hooks and other final jobs are underway.

Located in the heart of the university campus, the Sewell Construction team have transformed the old four storey geography building.

Given the nature of the University of Leeds estate, detailed planning, phasing and logistics have been a major priority for the team as part of the project, which is part of the £520 million investment programme at the University of Leeds. Working with planners at the local authority and a conservation officer, the team aimed to retain as many of the existing features of the building as possible.

The building will be sustainable for the future, focusing on energy efficiency, with a close eye on traffic management, logistics surrounding deliveries, keeping noise to a minimum and security while working on a live site.

Sewell Construction Project Manager Mark Dodgson said:

“We are coming into the last 10 weeks of the project.

“It has been structurally challenging as the existing steelwork structure was near enough at maximum capacity.

“We had to put strengthening steelwork in to accommodate the equipment needed to do the work.

“It has been more challenging than usual but the client is over the moon.”

Paul Cook, Strategic Programme Manager in the Capital Development Team at the University of Leeds, said:

“The building was built in the 1920’s so we have adapted it to meet modern academic needs, which has proved a challenge from a building services perspective.

“There have been a number of challenges along the way but the Sewell site team have worked really well with the university to overcome them and stick to our original design intent, so we are delighted with Sewell’s performance to present. Hopefully, that will be maintained in the last 10 weeks.”