Case Studies

BECKETT PARK CAMPUS

The Beckett Park Campus is located in the Headingley area of Leeds approximately three miles north of the Calverley Street site. The parkland Campus comprises of some 40 buildings. The land was acquired from Lord Grimthorpe in 1908 by the Leeds Board of Education. Between 1910 and 1915 a series of college buildings were built to create the first purpose built teacher education college in the country. All the original buildings are of a classical 'Wrennaissance' design, and they are now Grade II listed. In 1914 the buildings were requisitioned by the War Office for use as a hospital. In 1939 the War Office again requisitioned the site with the intention of using it as a hospital, because the large number of anticipated casualties did not materialise it was used as a training centre for the Royal Army Medical Corps. In 1978 the Great Hall, the largest building on the site was damaged by fire and the entire roof and floor were destroyed. When the work was completed it was renamed the James Graham Hall after the Director of Education who was responsible for the building of the original college, last year saw the completion of a multi million pound Learning Support Centre in the building, with an extended book collection, additional tutorial rooms and on-line facilities.

As part of the Estate Strategy three of the former halls of residence at Beckett Park have been converted solely for the use of teaching, and last summer saw the completion of a further two halls Leighton and Bronte. The conversion of the remaining halls remains an option and will depend largely on funding.

The Campus houses the majority of the University's indoor teaching and recreational sports facilities, and all of the indoor sports teaching provision. The Regional Gymnastics Centre was constructed in 1989 to meet both the needs of the University and gymnasts from the community. The campus offers other excellent sporting facilities including swimming pool, dance studio, squash courts, gymnasiums and an outdoor running track. University Sport has been successful in securing a lottery grant which will be used to extend the sports pavilion and construct synthetic turf pitches. December saw the £2m refurbishment of the refectory with a variety of cuisine available. The refectory has been designed to appeal directly to students and the decoration and fittings reflect their tastes.

The faculties represented at Beckett Park include Information and Engineering Systems, Cultural and Education Studies, Leeds Business School and also the Centre for Language Studies.

Back to Introduction