Projects
Temple Moor High School Sixth Form – Leeds
Bowman Riley designed an expanded sixth form block at Temple Moor High School to enhance its post-16 provision, meeting current demand and anticipated population growth in the area.
The school has provided post-16 education for 163 students, with high retention rates from earlier years. As a result, demand for post-16 places has steadily risen. This expansion will allow for an annual intake of 175 students, including those from Temple Moor High School and other schools across Leeds, bringing total capacity to 350.
The expansion will enable the school to offer students improved, high-quality facilities and resources, including seven additional classrooms, a new study area, a dedicated ICT suite, plus a significantly enlarged common room with a servery and areas set aside as a cybercafé and socialising area. The project also includes a dedicated sixth form entrance and reception, additional post-16 office space and a meeting room.
The additional new facilities will also enable the Temple Moor High School to offer a broader curriculum, including a T-Level in Early Years Education.
The project progressed through architectural stages 2–6, with Bowman Riley delivering the design under a Design & Build contract for the Red Kite Learning Trust. The project was novated to contractor Lindum Group, and we continued to work with them to develop and deliver the design brief set by the Trust.
The design team collaborated to overcome on-site challenges, ensuring the new sixth form building was delivered successfully and operational for the school community by the start of the new academic year.
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York College Framework
York College is a highly regarded education institution that ranks among the top three colleges in the UK. As the sole supplier of a multidisciplinary consultancy team, we support the College’s investment in its campus and ensure the best possible learning environments.
We have been a trusted partner of York College since 2018, when appointed to the college’s first framework. Reappointed to the College’s framework in 2024 for a second term, we offer an integrated solution combining architecture, building surveying, project management, interior design, and principal designer services. We also work with trusted partners, including quantity surveyors Summers Inman and Adept civil and structural engineers, to cover all necessary disciplines.
Our partnership is underpinned by consistently excellent KPI results, demonstrating our commitment to the College’s long-term success. With a real understanding of the campus, we have forged strong working relationships with key College staff and continuously support their objectives.
Key Projects
Atrium Repair: Our first project involved overseeing the £100k repair of the central glazed atrium within a six-week summer break. Despite challenging weather, we completed the work on time with a 20-year guarantee.
Institute of Technology Refurbishments: Our relationship with York College grew stronger when we assisted the college in securing central government funding to create an Institute of Technology. York College was selected as one of only 12 Institutes of Technology in England, leading to several refurbishment projects, including remodelling the library, teaching spaces, and media areas.
Motor Vehicle Workshop: The £600,000 project created additional space for training mechanics, engineers, and technicians. Delivered during the 2020 lockdown, it provided teaching space and supported social distancing. The handover to the client was planned to coincide with Reading Week at the College, which allowed the tutors time and space to set up before the students returned for the next term.
Construction Centre: Supporting the introduction of T-Level qualifications, we oversaw a two-storey extension to the construction centre, which included joinery and brickwork workshops, classrooms, and IT suites. The 44-week programme was strategically phased outside of term time. The construction centre extension addressed immediate space requirements, demonstrating innovative problem-solving and a commitment to sustainability. The project was completed on time and within budget, earning a Very Good BREEAM rating.
Student Hub: We designed the refurbishment of the student hub, creating a welcoming, efficient space that integrates reception, student services, and learning resources for students to work and collaborate.
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Harrogate Grammar School – North Yorkshire
Over the past 15 years, Bowman Riley has collaborated closely with Harrogate Grammar School to meet the growing demand for pupil places. This partnership has expanded the school’s facilities, enhanced the learning environment, and supported its continued academic excellence.
Working with the Red Kite Learning Trust and the school’s leadership team, we developed a phased expansion plan that aligned with the school’s educational goals, budget, and timelines.
The new buildings were integrated seamlessly with the campus, respecting the school’s 1930s architectural style while introducing modern, innovative elements that reflect its progressive ethos.
Key projects include:
Sixth Form Pavilion
We designed a £2 million Sixth Form Pavilion to replace temporary classrooms and provide purpose-built, world-class facilities to support students’ academic and career progression. The Pavilion consolidates all sixth-form facilities on one site, including well-equipped classrooms, independent study areas, collaborative spaces, social areas, and a cloister garden. The advanced science laboratories cater specifically to sixth-form students, and the Forum, a 300-seat lecture theatre, serves as a hub for academic events.
Science Building
We designed a new science building to replace the crumbling 1950s block. Funded with £1 million from the Education Funding Agency, the building was needed by September, just months after funding was secured. We proposed a modular design to meet the tight timeline, minimising disruption through off-site manufacturing. The striking new building, featuring a contemporary façade and entrance, blends with the existing 1930s structure, offering four new laboratories, a preparation room, and a link corridor to ease congestion in the busiest part of the school.
Atrium and Entrance
We designed a new building to connect the 1930s to a 1960s block, with three classrooms on the first floor and a large atrium below, forming the new entrance. The project means the school can increase the number of student places. The design infills the courtyard, reusing space within the footprint of the building with a new double-height central atrium providing flexible teaching and exhibition space, with three new teaching classrooms at the first-floor level. This has created naturally light-filled spaces with natural ventilation, creating a sustainable environment. The new spaces improve circulation and provide a new student-focused entrance. Previously, students, staff and visitors had to use the same narrow entrance. A key project driver was to improve connections throughout the school; therefore, as part of our designs, we reworked the existing floor levels to improve accessibility.
Key Challenges and Solutions
Throughout the partnership, Bowman Riley has faced several challenges, including expanding the school within the confines of a limited campus and minimising disruption to students and staff during construction. However, the architects approached these challenges with innovative solutions. By working in close collaboration with the school and local authorities, Bowman Riley was able to deliver projects on time and within budget, ensuring that the school could continue to operate smoothly during each phase of development.
The partnership between Bowman Riley and Harrogate Grammar School over the last 15 years has been a testament to the power of collaboration and strategic planning. Through careful consideration of both current needs and future growth, Bowman Riley has help Harrogate Grammar School expand its physical capacity while preserving the school’s commitment to academic excellence.
Bradford College Student Central – Bradford
Bowman Riley provided interior design and project management to support the interior refurbishment of the Student Central social hub within the David Hockney building at Bradford College.
Bradford College, one of the largest further education colleges in the UK, sought to create an inspiring and functional space for its students to relax and unwind in between classes. The existing Student Central was characterised by a tired, cluttered space that did not reflect Bradford College’s identity. Recognising the need for a revitalised space where students could relax, recharge, and socialise between lessons, our brief was to create an environment that aligned with the College’s brand while prioritising the needs of a diverse student body, including neurodiversity.
We created two distinct yet interconnected areas within the space. The lounge area was Inspired by coffee shops, airport lounges, and hotel lobbies, serving as a space for students to unwind. We introduced a feature screen, branding elements and Biophilia to enhance calmness. Careful colour selection to avoid overwhelming stimuli. The second area is dedicated to recreation, incorporating existing games such as pool tables and table tennis.
We retained and upcycled elements like the reception desk to minimise waste.
Once the interior design was approved, our project manager oversaw the refurbishment process, collaborating with the selected contractor Ben Johnson to ensure a smooth fit-out in line with our design intent featuring quality furniture, fixtures, and equipment and acoustic treatments to reduce noise.
The refurbished Student Central met all objectives including timely delivery ahead of the new academic year. The refurbishment of Student Central exemplifies our commitment to creating spaces that enhance the overall student experience.
Images credit Ben Johnson.
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Morley Learning & Skills Centre – Leeds
Morley, Leeds
Luminate Education Group
Bowman Riley is providing architecture on the transformation of a historic building within a conservation area in south Leeds into the Morley Learning and Skills Centre for Luminate Education Group.
Leeds City Council and Leeds City College have partnered to transform the former St Mary’s in the Wood church hall, dating back to 1900, into a new adult training facility. The facility will provide training to boost the skills of adults, particularly in emerging and new technologies, to help local people gain the skills they need to maximise their potential.
The council purchased the Grade II-listed building using part of the £24.3 million Morley Towns Fund grant, part of the government’s national Levelling Up initiative.
We are providing architecture alongside Curtins civil and structural engineers and TB&A mechanical and electrical engineers as part of our team to achieve planning and Listed Building consent. The proposal outlines an educational facility with a learning zone, teaching spaces and classrooms.
Our role has involved extensive stakeholder engagement with the College and local community, who welcome the development. The project involves internal and external alterations, works to the existing building elements and new additions, including a lift, external ramp and learning pod. The external works include a new rear external enclosure, hard surface alterations and new external landscaping.
The Morley Learning and Skills Centre is planned to open in late 2025. It will be an exciting addition to Morley and a place for developing skills in the town centre.
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Brooklands Special School – Skipton, North Yorkshire
Bowman Riley has created designs to enhance the provision of teaching and care facilities at Brooklands School in Skipton to transform the lives of more than 80 pupils aged four to 19 with special educational needs through the Yorkshire Children’s Charity Big Build initiative.
We offered our design services free of charge to refurbish the early years’ classrooms, revamp the dilapidated external areas, including providing wheelchair access to the play areas, and reorganisation of the existing sensory room to create a bigger facility with improved air circulation. The project also consists of the replacement of a garage with a new build specialist rebound therapy centre, which uses trampolines to promote movement, therapeutic exercise, and recreation.
Working as part of a team that includes GMI Construction, Rex Proctor & Partners, and Re-form Landscape Architects, this scheme will deliver state-of-the-art facilities, creating an environment where staff are re-energised to teach and children are excited to learn.
We have also developed further proposals and will continue to support the school in bringing these ideas to fruition in the future.
In addition to our design work, a team of volunteers from our local offices spent a day working on the school grounds, clearing overgrown greenery to create a fairy garden and an area for the children to enjoy pond dipping.
Bowman Riley was awarded ‘Outstanding Contributor’ at the Yorkshires – Commercial Real Estates Awards 2023 for our work on this project.
At Bowman Riley, each member of our team is entitled to a day’s paid volunteering to help a local charity or community group as part of our commitment to social value.
“We work extremely hard to ensure these incredibly special young people have everything they need but our budget only goes so far. I’m thrilled and gratified that the Great Yorkshire Build will make such a difference to our pupils, their families, and our dedicated staff, and I thank all those taking part.”
Fran Cracknell, Headteacher, Brooklands School.
Sandy Lane Primary School Refurbishment – Bradford
Sandy Lane Primary School needed to refurbish its early year’s spaces to create a new nursery and to accommodate two reception classes. Their vision is for their early years’ provision to work cohesively together within the space with joint resources.
Bowman Riley provided contract administration to help procure the project, draft the specification and tender process and a full interior design service from concept design, layouts, and visualisations to the construction of the tender package for the appointment of the contractor, Construction North Group to undertake the works.
Working closely with the teaching staff, we created initial layouts for the spaces based on their practical needs and requirements. Building upon this, we then generated high-quality visuals to help the school community envision how the layout would work. Specifically, we demonstrated how the interior choices and materials shape the spaces, including paint details, rafts and lighting to enhance the children’s experience.
The result of our design is three spaces with toilets and a one-to-one reading area that work seamlessly together whilst retaining a private feature for each space. The redesign opens up the spaces for better visibility of the children and a greatly enhanced aesthetic, inviting imaginative play.
Each space is decorated with fun accents along with cork walls designed for children’s artwork displays. The spaces include cloud rafts and suspended garland wreaths, as well as a feature grass carpet in each reading area and new kitchenettes for messy play.
“We have been really happy with the service we have been provided. The team has been great to work with, and it’s been exciting seeing the plan for our new early year’s provision come to life over the past few months. I have found Bowman Riley to be very professional and easy to work with. This is the first time I have had to develop a project like this and the team helped make the project simple and manageable”.
Fiona Newsome, Sandy Lane Primary School
New Arts Centre – Outwood Grange Academy – Wakefield
Outwood Grange Academy
Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Bowman Riley designed the new £6.5 million Sir Michael Wilkins Arts Centre at Outwood Grange Academy to house the departments of drama, dance, music and art.
The new centre features a multi-purpose flexible performance space, galleries and state-of-the-art music recording studios, which used not only for teaching and performing spaces but also allow collaborative working with visiting arts practitioners and community use.
A significant challenge was to design the new building on a well-developed site. We carefully considered the masterplanning of the site and enabling projects to ensure that the new arts centre will not stymie future developments at the school site.
The project had a limited budget, so it was important that we maximised all available space to ensure the best value from the school’s investment.
Outwood Grange Academy is one of the largest secondary schools and sixth forms in England. In recent years, the Academy has seen major redevelopment work improving the grounds, buildings and facilities to accommodate its burgeoning pupil population and update the ageing estate.
Bowman Riley worked with Outwood Grange for over five years providing consultancy services to survey the school estate, undertake access audits and upgrade existing facilities. In 2011, we designed the 2000m² sports hall, gymnasium and fitness suite.
Rossett Acre Primary School New Classrooms – Harrogate
Red Kite Learning Trust
Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Bowman Riley designed a new teaching building for Rossett Acre, a successful two-form entry primary school on the south side of Harrogate, part of the Red Kite Learning Trust.
Involved throughout the duration of the project, we initially provided feasibility designs to secure Condition Improvement Funding (CIF) to replace two existing temporary classrooms that had deteriorated beyond economical repair. We then went on to create the concept designs, planning and tender drawings before novation to the contractor, SCS Projects Ltd, to deliver the working drawing package.
The new building accommodates two new classrooms and adjacent WC facilities for children aged 10-11 years old in Year 6 designed to give pupils a sense of independence in preparation for their journey onto secondary school.
The new block needed to be the maximum build size of 152m² for compliance with the funding criteria. Balancing this requirement with the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s (ESFA) minimum area sizes and the school’s unique teaching ethos presented its own challenges to create the maximum usable space.
Rossett Acre School wanted the ability to open up the two classrooms to create one larger space to bring the pupils together for collaborative teaching across the year group. We achieved this by locating class bases adjacent each other with a direct link between the two teaching spaces to allow for larger group activities to take place between the year group.
The building design and orientation maximise natural daylight into the teaching spaces from the south elevation while reducing solar heat gain via the projecting roof canopy. Underfloor heating was provided via an air source heat pump.
New Sandside Lodge – Special Educational Needs School
Ulverston, Cumbria
Bowman Riley was appointed by Seddon Construction to design a new school for Sandside Lodge. The school caters for 80 pupils from 2 – 19 years olds, who have learning difficulties and many have additional and complex needs such as autism, physical disabilities and sensory impairments.
Located in the grounds of the local secondary school, the new school replaces an existing facility that was no longer fit for purpose located adjacent to an industrial estate.
Appointed via the North West Construction Hub framework as the main contractor, Seddon found that the initial design would be significantly over the agreed budget. Seddon explored the possibility of creating a modular school and brought Bowman Riley on board to develop the design. The modular construction route was found to be still too expensive. This resulted in our appointment to completely redesign the school in liaison with the local authority to ensure the design met the agreed budget.
We developed a close relationship with the end-user group of staff, support workers, parents and children through a series of workshops to ensure the design meets their specialist requirements.
Facilities include a medical room designed to HTM standards, hydrotherapy suite, rebound therapy room, gym, soft play, sensory rooms. Externally there is an outdoor woodland area to facilitate forestry skills and sensory gardens.
The project was delivered in time for the start of the new academic year in September 2019.
The development went on to win the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Award at the Constructing Excellence National Awards.
University of Bradford Framework
Under a framework agreement, Bowman Riley provides multi-disciplinary services as the single supplier for the provision of the University of Bradford’s professional services.
The University of Bradford received its Royal Charter in 1966, but its origins date back to the early 19th century. The University has a diverse and complex estate with many 19th-century, 1960s and 1970s buildings. Our support helps the University get the most out of its assets.
Our team has worked at the University for over nine years, successfully delivering over 500 schemes. We understand the multifaceted stakeholders, evolving priorities and objectives and the requirement for flexibility and future-proofing. Key projects include: Digital Health and Enterprise Zone Academic Building, the Faculty of Management and Law including a mock courtroom, the Faculty of Life Sciences upgrade, the refurbishments of the Richmond and Norcroft buildings, the Atrium refresh and the Oakwell Centre at Dewsbury and District Hospitals.
Our knowledge of the construction forms and service installations across the estate enables us to respond quickly to the inherent design confinements and challenges, such as frame span restrictions, wall construction, floor slab and rebar limitations, vibration issues, access/fire compliance, thermal performance, and asbestos. Identifying design considerations from the outset provides greater efficiency for the University.
Our knowledge of the University’s procurement processes, stakeholder sign-off procedures, project board, and workbook processes has enabled us to deliver fast-track strategies to achieve the design, programme, and financial objectives. Following a five-week design and tender period, we completed a £500k refurbishment of the Workshop Block.
Our extensive knowledge of the estate, our team’s expertise, and our commitment to the University have formed a trusted advisor relationship with the university’s estate team.
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The Great Hall, James Graham Building – Leeds Beckett University
Leeds
Bowman Riley successfully designed and delivered a £1.3 million refurbishment of The Great Hall within the landmark James Graham Building as part of the wider refurbishment of the Headingley Campus.
Built in 1912 as a purpose built training college, the Grade II James Graham Building is a large three storey redbrick building designed in the renaissance style presiding over three acres of parkland.
Bowman Riley designed the restoration of The Great Hall from the campus library back to its original purpose as a large flexible space.
The project entailed the removal and subsequent relocation of the campus library. The new library facility was designed to a smaller footprint with greatly improved functionality.
The restored Great Hall now seats 200 people for formal dinners and accommodates 350 for receptions and exhibitions. Our designs retained and restored the period features including the wood-paneling and grand windows whilst introducing state-of-the-art AV technologies.
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Kirkstall Brewery Student Accommodation – Leeds Beckett University
Kirkstall, Leeds
Bowman Riley transformed the derelict Kirkstall Brewery in Leeds into award-winning accommodation for over 1000 students.
This significant education project entailed the design of a new building and the re-use of a series of substantial 19th century listed buildings adjacent to the Leeds – Liverpool canal forming part of the regeneration of this area of Leeds.
The development involved the adaption and re-use of listed buildings with a massing of new build forms that maintain the strength and stature of the original brewery.
A safe and accessible student village was created, which is an imaginative social use for the site and an opportunity to conserve and enhance the character and identity of this area.
Kirkstall Brewery Residences won the City of Leeds Award for Architecture, was praised by Professor Derek Linstrum FSA architectural historian and featured in the RIBA publication: Leeds, Shaping the City.
Oatlands Junior School Extension – Harrogate
Oatlands Junior School
Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Bowman Riley was commissioned to design a new extension building and reconfigure the layout of Oatlands Junior School, a large, popular school in Harrogate.
The layout of the 1960s school needed a fresh approach to improve the entrance and reception and to safeguard the pupils. The school building had multiple entry points, confusing navigation including the main hall used as a circulation route, a lack of security and a reception located in a corridor.
Bowman Riley designed a 120m2 infill building to provide a new entrance and reception area giving the school a sense of identity, a welcoming entry point for pupils, staff, parents and visitors for general use and school events. This places the reception at the heart of the school.
Our role involved the rationalisation of the school including improving the navigation around the school, controlling entry points and access to safeguard the pupils.
The main hall was removed from the circulation route and the dining facilities were improved to avoid disruption to the learning environment. We also enabled controlled access to the staff room and head teachers office.
This enabling project was formed part of the wider plans for the school and in 2015, Bowman Riley undertook a feasibility study for a new building to accommodate two new classrooms, WC, associated plant, a courtyard and a link corridor.
Digital Health Enterprise Zone Academic Building – Bradford
Bowman Riley provided the roles of architect, client’s agent, party wall surveyor and principal designer on a new research and innovation centre for The University of Bradford and the Digital Health Enterprise Zone created to support the research and development of digital health innovations to improve the lives of people living with long-term conditions.
The rambling and under-used 19th-century mill complex, Phoenix South West, on the University’s campus has undergone an extensive transformation to become a leading edge digital health research facility entitled the Digital Health Enterprise Zone Academic Building. The design retains many original features including cast iron columns and a structural frame supporting a north-light roof profile to a large part of the building.
It is the University’s focal point for access to the newest technology, research, and projects in digital health. The key design challenge involved creating a visual identity for the various parties housed in the Centre as a unified community and to provide a gateway to the campus that is accessible to the public.
The centre offers four floors of research, learning, exhibition and business incubation space. It has public clinics for physiotherapy, eye examinations and reviews of patient medicines. A key feature is a full-size two bedroom Technology Smart House that links to a 50-seat lecture theatre.
The Technology House will serve as a dynamic demonstrator of research and undergraduate and postgraduate projects to showcase technological advancement in digital health that can benefit people in their homes.
Bowman Riley has played a pivotal role in the delivery of the building from condition surveys and feasibility reports to the full design of the project. Our client’s agent oversaw the project’s delivery to ensure that the client’s vision was maintained and the works were completed to the highest standard.
Hogsthorpe Primary Academy Extension – Lincolnshire
David Ross Education Trust
Hogsthorpe, Lincolnshire
Hogsthorpe Primary Academy is a small Victorian school set on the edge of a village in Lincolnshire. The school comprised several brick buildings with extensions including an array of out-dated modular buildings. The school used the modular buildings as classrooms and a hall, which doubled up as a classroom. The school needed to increase teaching space to support learning and allow the main hall to be a separate entity with links back to the original building.
Bowman Riley designed a new contemporary extension to the school. The extension accommodates two new classrooms and a multi-use hall with a shared play area, which connects both the classrooms back to the main school building. Both classrooms were designed to have direct access to a new covered outdoor learning area.
The new accessible entrance lobby and toilet facilities enhance the facilities for the wider community, which provides the school with the opportunity to rent out the hall to the local community as an additional source of revenue. The new building was created to be in keeping with the main school to maintain a sense of unity throughout the site by using soft natural materials. The building was designed to be well-used throughout the whole school year. The construction was robust to deal with its daily use and long term maintenance.
The building is well-insulated with excellent quality materials selected for their lifecycle impact/embodied energy. Finishes were selected to be durable, safe and help noise control.
“Our new facilities have completely transformed the learning environment for our pupils. We now have a dedicated early years area, with state-of-the-art equipment, as well as a brand new school hall that the whole academy and local community can enjoy.”
Karin Nicholls, Headteacher, Hogsthorpe Primary Academy
Leslie Silver Building Refurbishment – Leeds Beckett University
Leeds Beckett University
Leeds, West Yorkshire
Leeds Beckett University city campus originally comprised of a cluster of 1960s buildings on different levels with a main entrance on Calverley Street. The principal footfall was predominantly on Woodhouse Lane but this was the designated service access to the buildings. The University needed a new gateway building on Woodhouse Lane as an infill between the existing buildings to create a unified learning environment.
Bowman Riley designed the refurbishment of the existing buildings and created a landmark new building. We designed an enabling project to refurbish the student union in the basement of one of the existing buildings. This paved the way for the refurbishment of the existing buildings involving the external recladding and full interior refresh in a live environment.
We addressed the issue of the changes on level between the existing buildings and new infill building. We used the changes in level to create an double height glazed entrance and mall on the new build with lifts to access all floors.
The new building was designed to accommodate a library to centralise the University’s library facilities that were fractured across campus. The library is a critical learning resource providing information and learning support facilities 24/7 throughout the year.
We held workshops with library staff, academics and students to examine the methods used to store and access library items. We explored the way the students learned individually and in groups and the interfaces with IT. These workshops helped shape our design to meet the aspirations of the users.
We created a legible series of spaces and routes that facilitated orientation and enabled diverse user groups to easily navigate through the building complex. A state-of-the-art learning environment was created across five floors making provision for modern learning methods and advancements in IT.
Prince Henry’s Grammar School Refurbishment and New Build Sixth Form Facilities – Leeds
Prince Henry’s Grammar School
Otley, Leeds, West Yorkshire
Prince Henry’s Grammar School is a 1400 pupil secondary school and sixth form within a conservation area in Otley. The school moved to the present site in 1923 when the original stone clad two-storey double courtyard building, was constructed.
Bowman Riley worked with Prince Henry’s to facilitate their vision of becoming internationally recognised as a successful learning community that provides outstanding education. Working collaboratively with the school, we appraised the estate and produced a strategic development plan to enable future projects to be delivered on an incremental basis as the funding became available with the emphasis on creating an identity and hub for its sixth form students.
This resulted in funding secured from the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund to undertake a full refurbishment of the historic building. We designed and project managed significant improvements including: roofing maintenance, stonework repairs, replacing the remaining wooden windows, refurbishing the clock tower and internal modernisation. This investment brought the historic building up to date and reduced the need to use a significant portion of the school’s annual budget to patch repair the building. The refurbishment acted as an enabling project for the building of a new sixth form hub.
To accommodate the new sixth form facilities, we designed the 600m2 infill of an existing courtyard providing a central flexible hub with a café and meeting room. This central device improved connections with series of adjacent spaces namely the halls, classrooms, art rooms and two new teaching spaces.
The scheme presented multiple challenges, linking to the historical part of the school. The design was required within extremely tight timescales to ensure that the school complied with the constraints of the bid conditions for funding.
University of Leeds Refurbishment Programme – Leeds
Bowman Riley partnered with the University of Leeds to support the long-term upgrade of its varied and complex estate.
We were commissioned to survey and design the upgrade of circa 50 University buildings, including a number of listed, highly engineered and highly serviced properties, to ensure full access for all in compliance with the Equality Act.
Established in 1904, the University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university and a member of the Russell Group. Its 1,230 acres of land contain a mixture of Gothic revival, Art Deco, Brutalist, and postmodern buildings, making it one of the most diverse university campuses in the country in terms of building styles and history.
As part of the programme, we worked a number of listed buildings including:
- Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall Grade II listed, formerly a Presbyterian church built in 1878-79
- E C Stoner (1968), five storey Grade II listed building designed by Chamberlin Powell and Bon
- The Brotherton Library (1936) – Grade II listed Beaux-Arts brick building
- The Great Hall 1894 – The Great Hall is a grade II listed Gothic Revival building
- Michael Sadler Building (1939) – one of the largest facilities on-campus with the 340 seat Rupert Becket Lecture Theatre
- The Garstang Building (1968) is a Grade II L shaped building designed by Chamberlin Powell and Bon
Brotherton Library External Lift – University of Leeds
Bowman Riley provided architecture, project management, and the role of principal designer on a new lift for the unique Brotherton Library on the main campus at the University of Leeds.
The Brotherton Library is a Grade II listed Beaux-Arts brick building built in 1936 with Art Deco fittings. The original lift was designed to transport books between floors and cannot be modified to accommodate wheelchair users. The University needed a new lift to provide full wheelchair access to the library in line with the Equality Act; our solution was to create a new external lift shaft and walkway. Centrally located, the lift provides access for all library users and improves the fire evacuation process for disabled users.
Initially, the planners insisted on a traditional brick construction for the new lift, which would be labour-intensive, costly, and has increased health and safety risks. We actively engaged with the planners in the design process through early and continued consultation, which resulted in the agreement to install a steel frame lift shaft with a robust and high-performance cladding system.
This reduced the construction programme on site, provided a financial cost saving and reduced disruption to the day-to-day activities of the highly utilised library facilities.
Due to the high access restrictions to the external site and proximity to the critical delivery access route, close management of the design and health and safety matters was required. Programming and coordination of noisy works, drilling, and cranes were meticulously programmed from the outset to ensure minimal disruption to the library, which offers 365 days a year service.
The new lift provides access for all library users and enables wheelchair users to obtain access to all floors of the Brotherton Library independently and with assistance if required.