Archive for category: Estate Services

Meet Stevie Kilgour, Facilities Team Leader at the University of Leeds. He works on maintaining the campus and supporting annual events held at the University.

Describe your job in a couple of sentences

Stevie Kilgour: “I am the Facilities Team Leader so I manage a team of 18 Facilities Assistants. We work across the whole campus, maintaining building access and teaching spaces. We also support events including; graduation ceremonies, open days and the International Medieval Conference.”

Tell us about a current project

“At any one time we have a whole host of events and duties going on. We don’t necessarily work with one project at a time we work from 7am till 10pm on anything and everything across campus.

“One interesting event we are working to support is the Leeds Barn Boot Camp which is part of the Leeds 2023 Year of Culture programme.

“We also recently worked with Times Higher – Digital Universities UK event in the Esther Simpson Building which played host to many keynote speakers from leading higher education, industry leaders.

“In January 2023, we enjoyed hosting Kate Middleton on her recent visit to our University.”

What aspects of your work do you think are the most important to people at the University (staff/students)?

Our work is centred on the people who make this University great – the students and staff. We have their best interests and security at the centre of everything we do. Without them here we would not be needed. To work alongside great staff and see students excel over the time is a great thing to be part of.

Safety, knowledge, trust and passion to maintain the reputation of the University and the service are what drives me.

What do you like most about your job?

The scope of the job. We work across campus and in every building. We meet so many people and no two days are quiet. It can be office-based a lot of the time but ultimately we are an operational service and getting around our beautiful campus (especially in the summer) is essential to the service and a blessing. The Grounds and Gardens team are amazing here.

Tell us about a project you are particularly proud of.

No single project as all, have their own challenges and merits. However, every year we support open days and see new students arrive with their families, and the nervous excitement of the challenge ahead in their faces. Then later on we see them graduate – grown, strong and proud of the journey they have been on and that they are now Leeds Alumni.

Follow our ‘Ten Minutes With’ series on @UoLCampusDevelopment.

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Did you know we have blue plaques across the University campus?

There have been many influential people who have attended or worked at the University of Leeds since its earliest days. The Blue Plaques across campus highlight special achievements and celebrate those who have helped to shape our history and heritage.

Leeds Civic Trust has been installing blue plaques across the city since 1987, commemorating people, events and buildings.

Esther Simpson OBE (1903 – 1996)

Born in Little London, this University of Leeds graduate became the Assistant Secretary of the Academic Assistance Council in 1933. Over the following decades, she dedicated herself to saving hundreds of refugee scholars from persecution and death, including sixteen future Nobel Laureates.

 

Live at Leeds

The University Refectory has become a legendary concert venue. On 14 February 1970, The Who’s electrifying performance at this venue was recorded and subsequently released as ‘Live at Leeds’, which has since become the most celebrated live album of its time.

Fanny Passavant (1849 – 1944)

In 1884, this individual was appointed as the Librarian of the Yorkshire College, and when the University of Leeds was established in 1904, she became its first librarian. Under her direction, the library experienced significant growth and was initially situated at the same location. By the time of her retirement in 1919, the library’s collection had expanded to include 80,000 volumes.

Sir William Bragg (1862 – 1942)

The Cavendish Professor of Physics at the University of Leeds from 1909 to 1915, developed the first x-ray spectrometer and was a pioneering figure in the x-ray analysis of crystal structures. Along with his son, Sir Lawrence Bragg, he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915.

 

Sir Clifford Allbutt (1836 – 1925)

From 1872 to 1881, he had served as a physician at the Leeds General Infirmary from 1865 to 1884 and later became the Regius Professor of Physic at Cambridge. He is most famous for inventing the short-stemmed clinical thermometer and for revising ‘The System of Medicine’, which was considered the authoritative text for doctors at the time.

The Yorkshire College

Constructed in 1879 with the generous assistance of the Clothworkers’ Company, these buildings served as the first dedicated premises of the Yorkshire College, which had been established in 1874. They housed the weaving and dyeing sheds, as well as the museum of the Textile Department. In 1904, the College was granted university status and became the University of Leeds.

Fairbairn House

The blue plaque at Fairbairn House commemorates the life and achievements of William Fairbairn, who was a prominent engineer and played a significant role in the industrial revolution. Queen Victoria stayed in the Fairbairn House in 1858, where she also came to open the town hall.

 

Check out the locations of the plaques on the Leeds Civic Trust website. Find out more about campus by following @UoLCampusDevelopment.

The installation this week of a new sculpture outside the Edward Boyle Library has been a collaboration between the Facilities Directorate and colleagues working in the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery.

Lighting design

‘Master of the Universe’, by world-renowned sculptor Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, took up its position last week in an operation coordinated by Christopher Wade, Architectural Technical Officer in the Estates Design Office.

A key consideration in the setting for the sculpture has been the lighting design, which Christopher has worked on with lighting designer Alkestie Skarlatou of Light in Space.

“Illuminating the sculpture in the evenings not only benefits the sculpture’s appearance, but also ensures it is a wayfinding point after dark,” says Christopher.

“The design of the lighting is critical as it influences how the sculpture is ‘read’ outside daylight hours. A lighting wash over the whole sculpture would risk overwhelming its detail and misses the opportunity darkness presents to emphasise parts of the sculpture”, he adds.

Inspiration from William Blake

Master of the Universe’ is a bronze sculpture which takes its inspiration from a painting by the artist William Blake. In Blake’s painting, the figure is a depiction of the mathematician Sir Isaac Newton crouched over a mathematical diagram, from which he is taking measurements with a pair of compasses. In the Paolozzi sculpture, the figure is astylistically mechanical representation of the sculptor.

Although the messages the two works seek to convey are different, the figure’s posture and focus in each is the same and the lighting emphasises the same area of the sculpture – the face, hands and area the compasses rest on – as the light in Blake’s painting.

“Positioning the lights to achieve this took some consideration, as they need to be raised off the ground but not obvious during daylight hours,” says Christopher. “We are therefore fixing the lights to the underside of a bespoke interpretation panel, which during daytime presents information about the sculpture.”

In order to limit energy use, the lights will be switched on automatically at dusk and off again later in the evening along with other lights on campus.

Grounds and Garden team

The Facilities Directorate are also putting finishing touches to the Paolozzi’s surroundings, with a  landscaping design implemented by thes Grounds and Gardens team, providing a sympathetic backdrop for the sculpture.

Leeds Alumni

The piece was donated by Douglas Caster, who completed his degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering at Leeds in 1975.

Masud Khokhar, University Librarian and Keeper of the Brotherton Collection, said:

“Leeds is a significant centre of science, art, and culture, so it’s fitting that our community will be able to experience this fascinating artwork whenever they visit the Edward Boyle Library.”

“I hope the message behind the sculpture inspires students, staff, researchers and our wider community to pursue knowledge in exciting new ways.”

For further information, read this news story about the Paolozzi Sculpture arriving at the university.