Green Light For New £13m College Campus In Leeds

LEEDS College of Building has secured planning permission for a new £13 million building on the city’s South Bank and work on the project is due to start imminently.

The state of the art, 5,200 square metre, four-storey building will offer a range of classrooms, workshops and an impressive central atrium.  It has been designed by Leeds based Fuse Studios and will sit in a prominent position alongside the College’s existing South Bank campus, between Cudbear Street and Black Bull Street. 

Construction work is set to start this September on phase two of the Hunslet campus and is expected to complete in October 2018.  The development is being supported by an £11.9m grant through the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Growth Deal.  Once complete, the two South Bank campuses will serve a large proportion of Leeds College of Building’s 7,000 students, with the remainder attending the College’s other campus on North Street.  As part of the LEP funding, a further £1m will be spent to refurbish the North Street site.

Ian Billyard, Principal at Leeds College of Building, which is the UK’s only specialist further education construction college, explains: “Securing planning permission for this new building is fantastic for everyone involved with Leeds College of Building and our students.  It will enable us to continue enhancing and improving the exceptional standards of training that we are renowned for and ensure that we remain ahead of an ever evolving and fast-paced industry. 

“Our existing South Bank campus has been a major success story since it opened two years ago and has become a key landmark on the South Bank, at a time when other education providers are expanding into the area.  This latest development will build on this success and offer an exceptional and highly sustainable learning environment for our students.”

Mike Harris from Fuse Studios, which also designed the College’s existing South Bank campus, adds: “This is yet another major development for the South Bank area of the city and we’re excited to see our plans come to fruition.  The response to our design has been overwhelmingly positive and there’s no doubt this development will have a positive impact on this part of Leeds, as well as becoming a superb learning resource that will help to shape the future of the construction industry.” 

 “Increasing the number of local apprentices trained in construction is key to building a brighter future for everyone in the Leeds City Region.

“The new Leeds College of Building centre, in Hunslet Road, will lay the foundations for students all over the region to start their careers in the construction industry, helping us to address the skills gap in the sector and boosting our economic growth now and in the years to come.”

Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority board member, said: “The Leeds College of Building campus will help equip 7,000 students a year with the skills they need to succeed in the construction industry. This boost is essential as we continue to grow the Leeds economy both across the city and in what is fast becoming a thriving hub of high quality educational facilities on the South Bank.”

The new campus will feature red-brick and metal cladding, to echo the area’s industrial heritage, and will be another highly sustainable building, set to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating. 

Leeds College of Building offers more than 200 courses across a huge range of disciplines, and has built a reputation for first-class education and training.  The College is an approved Apprenticeship Levy provider and offers a wide range of Apprenticeships in traditional trades and technical Apprenticeship routes, together with two Higher Level Apprenticeships in Construction Management (Sustainability) covering four Pathways (Building Surveying, Quantity Surveying, Civil Engineering and Structural Engineering) and Facilities Management which offer university equivalent work based education.