Campus then and now: Roger Stevens Building
Last updated on 15 July 2019
We’ve been digging through our archive of old campus photos and found a few images that show the campus throughout the years. This month we’re focussing on the Roger Stevens Building.
Then: Original design for Roger Stevens
The original design for the Roger Stevens was very different from the final lecture theatre, as can be seen in the architecture’s mock-up above!
The Roger Stevens Building seems to be a bit of a marmite building – people either love it or hate it.
Completed in 1970, the building was designed in the brutalist style by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, which was fashionable between the 50’s and 70’s – as demonstrated in a number of buildings around Leeds – and was actually meant to form just a small part of the wider campus plan, which unfortunately (if you love the style like we do) never came to full fruition due to financial restraints. This blog by Tina Richardson, Lecturer at the School of Design, provides a fascinating insight into the building and its history, gave us the interesting fact that the basement was home to a broadcasting studio.
Now: Roger Stevens Building (2017)
It is host to 25 lecture theatres offering a range of capacities, including some of the newest and most innovative spaces on campus. It is also home of the Print & Copy Bureau, the one stop shop for all printing, copying, artwork preparation and mailing services at the university.
But our favourite residents are the Mallard ducks which nest in the surrounding undergrowth and use the ornamental pond (which was once used in the air conditioning system for the building – just don’t ask us how!).
It’s also featured in Meet in Leeds Venue of the Month!
Ryan Johnson
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