ISG has started work on a £14 million expansion project at the Leeds College of Art.

Designed by architects DLA Design, the scheme involves creating a new five-storey building on the current car park area at Blenheim Walk. Completion is scheduled for summer 2018.

The 6,000 sq m facility will accommodate purpose- built art, design and performance facilities for increased student numbers and new courses.

Specialist facilities will include a 230 seat auditorium, music, film and photography studios, and a larger specialist arts library. There will also be an open plan atrium-style entrance with a public exhibition gallery and coffee shop, together with an enterprise centre which will also allow the College to engage more fully with regional businesses, and the local and wider communities of Leeds, as part of its employability agenda for students and alumni.

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The scheme, which aims to achieve a high BREEAM rating, will also have solar energy panels and an urban roof garden.

Other members of the project team include; WYG as the structural engineers, GVA Apleanoa as project management consultants, and TB+A Mechanical & Electrical and Rex Procter & Partners as quantity surveyors. HSBC are also helping to finance the project.

Andy McLinden, Regional Managing Director for ISG, said: "Leeds College of Art has ambitious plans for its future development and these new facilities will provide the infrastructure to support significant expansion at the Blenheim Walk campus, and promote greater engagement with the local community.

"The use of the YORbuild2 framework has proved instrumental in getting this complex project from concept to site quickly to maximise efficiencies and drive innovation in the build process."

Professor Simone Wonnacott, Principal of the College, added: "This year promises to be just as exciting for the College as our 170th anniversary last year. As we move forward with our purpose-built expansion, and add new courses to our portfolio, we will attract more students to the city offering them a greater diverse mix of creative courses. Our new build project coincides with our application to become a university, which will see the College becoming the only specialist arts university in the North of England, which we hope to make an announcement about later in the year."

(LM/MH)