Leeds featured in list of UK’s most beautiful brutalist buildings
It’s lauded as a key example of post-war university architecture, reflecting the practical and forward-looking design approach of the 1960s.
The Roger Stevens building represents a period of rapid expansion in higher education, where functionality and scale were prioritised.
The building forms the centrepiece of the complex structures on the University of Leeds campus and opened in 1970.
The design of the building by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon is a forward-looking city within a city and is cited as a trial run for the architects for their work on the Barbican. The development plans saw the architect’s experiment with ideas of urban design principles, community integration, and environment.
The building, which was granted listed building status in 2010, contains 25-tiered lecture theatres, a refectory and reprographics facilities. The exterior is highly futuristic, with students comparing it to a church organ, a robot or a car engine.
It has now been named among the most beautiful brutalist buildings in the UK, featuring 13th on the list.
Making Moves set out to rank the UK’s most beautiful brutalist buildings, with The Barbican taking the crown for first place. To create the ranking, a score was calculated using factors such as architecture awards, TripAdvisor ratings, the number of Instagram hashtags, and Google search volume.
Sally Evans, managing director at Making Moves, said: “Brutalist buildings are increasingly being recognised as an opportunity rather than an obstacle for London’s office market. Instead of demolition, we’re seeing landmark 1960s structures refurbished and repositioned to meet modern occupier expectations.
The transformation of Space House in Covent Garden demonstrates how retaining the majority of an existing structure can deliver both strong sustainability credentials and distinctive, high-spec workspace – qualities that are becoming more valuable in a competitive leasing environment.”