Quarry Hill is a new state-of-the-art campus for two of Leeds City College’s largest schools – the School of Creative Arts and the School of Social Science. Situated in the newly developed cultural quarter, with modern teaching spaces, independent learning spaces, social areas and incredible views over the city, the new nine-storey development is also home to the college’s Higher Education Centre and Leeds College of Music.
Replica practical care suites, themed nursery rooms and nutrition training kitchens give students studying Childcare or Health and Social Care a realistic experience of their future working environment. For Creative Arts students, the building features a flexible performance space with specialist sound and lighting facilities, dance and rehearsal spaces, TV studios, recording studios, digital arts and animation facilities. The facilities have been carefully developed to meet the academic and vocational training specialisms of each of the individual schools.
The campus received £33.4m from the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP), delivered in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, through the Leeds City Region Growth Deal – a £1 billion plus package of Government investment to accelerate growth and create jobs across Leeds City Region.
Speaking about the investment, Roger Marsh, Chairman of the LEP, said:
“Young people hold the keys to the success of our future economy and that is why we’re investing £79m from our Growth Deal funding in further education facilities throughout the Leeds City Region. “It’s vital that we equip our young people with the skills they’ll need to succeed in the jobs of the future and I’m delighted to see the Quarry Hill campus one step closer to welcoming students through its doors in September.”
Contractor Wates Construction completion of the flagship education building brings to a close over 100 weeks of construction work, which has seen the team collectively spend 750,000 working hours on site. Wates engaged local supply chain partners at Quarry Hill, with 89% of project contracts awarded to suppliers within 25 miles of the project and £110,000 spent with social enterprises. And the company helped to create Eco Bricks with a local charity by supplying non-recyclable plastic from the site.
The completed structure comprises:
- A total of 7,700 tonnes of concrete, equating to 1,300 African elephants;
- A total volume of 3,130m3 of concrete, enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool;
- 7,605 metres of glazing units, 76 times the height of Big Ben;
- A single theatre beam of 250 tonnes, the weight of 1½ blue whales;
- A total of 7,305 metres of glass, 2.7 times the length of the Golden Gate bridge.