Leeds Dental Institute Refurbishment – University of Leeds

University of Leeds and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Leeds, West Yorkshire

Leeds Dental Institute is operated as a partnership between the University of Leeds and Leeds Teaching Hospitals to support the training of dental care professionals.

Bowman Riley was engaged to design, manage and administer the complex and fast-track reorganisation and refurbishment of the Institute based in Level 5 of the 1979 Worsley Building, one of the largest buildings in Leeds city centre.

The aim of the project was to provide state-of-the art dental facilities to meet the latest clinical standards, improve flexibility between departments and provide new equipment and upgraded technologies. The project comprised the relocation of radiology and acute dental care, the replacement and improvement of dental chairs, equipment and clinical cubicles, the improvement of circulation and flexibility between departments and the improved space utilisation maximising the number of dental cubicles available.

This multi-phased development was successfully delivered within a live clinical environment cognisant of the importance of sound proofing and dust reduction during the construction work to support infection control. A major challenge of the project was to minimise disruption to operations of the Institute and wider building users. The amount of available operating space was reduced during construction. To enable the Institute to operate effectively during construction, we introduced an innovative idea for the Institute to change their way of working by increasing the opening hours to a double shift for the project’s duration. As the Institute shares the plant and services with the entire building, part of our role was to liaise with the building user group to ensure the smooth development of the works.