Leeds Beckett lodges plans for built environment school
The university wants to deliver a 113,000 sq ft facility on a surface car park north of the Rose Bowl building at its city centre campus.
The building would house Leeds Beckett University’s School of the Built Environment, Engineering and Computing, which is currently spread across four buildings at its central and Headingley campuses, as well as leasing space at Roundhay Road.
DPP Planning and architect FaulknerBrowns lead the professional team. Gillespies is the landscape architect and Bowman Riley is advising on heritage. Buro Happold and Turner & Townsend are also advising.
An application for outline consent has now been submitted, which can be viewed on the Leeds City Council planning portal, reference 24/05830/OT.
The building is proposed as net zero carbon in operation and BREEAM Excellent.
As set out by DPP, LBU’s proposal “will enhance Leeds’ higher education offering and attract the best possible cohort of students for these subjects to the city”, also regenerating an inefficient car park and improving public realm.
Further benefits would be the introduction of active ground floor uses and improved connectivity for pedestrian and cycle access. If approved the project would result in the loss of 66 parking spaces, with one disabled parking space proposed and 70 cycle spots.
The site is bound to the east by Portland Crescent, beyond which lies a Vita student residence, and to the west by Portland Way, beyond which lies the Leeds Beckett Portland Building.
An area of grassland between Woodhouse Lane bounds the site to the north with Queen Square Court on the opposite side of the road. The site is bound to the south by LBU’s Rose Bowl, a 2009 building designed by Sheppard Robson.
