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Industry Experts Educate Students At New £12m City Centre Development

A new state of the art £12 million student apartment scheme in Leeds city centre that will be available for the 2018/2019 academic year is already benefitting students by offering them a detailed insight into the design, construction and engineering processes surrounding innovative, large-scale development projects.

The Cookridge Street site is being developed into 96 self-contained studio apartments within a part six and part eight storey building, by property company YPP. The development, known as Oasis Residence, is designed by Brewster Bye Architects, with The Broadley Group as principle contractor, Adept Consulting Engineers providing structural engineering services and NOVO handling the mechanical and electrical engineering design.

This week representatives from the leading Leeds based companies gave 20 students from Leeds Beckett University’s School of Built Environment & Engineering course a tour of the development. Matthew Holland from YPP explained the company’s overall aspirations for the development, Andrew Chapman from Brewster Bye talked about the architectural vision for the building and Paul Watchorn from Adept explained the engineering process, and the benefits of the building’s concrete frame.

In addition, project manager Allan Irvine from Broadley, gave an overview of the construction programme and explained how they had overcome the challenges of working within a confined city centre site.

Omar Al-Nujaifi, from YPP, says: “This development is set to become one of Leeds city centre’s most sought after student addresses, offering a superb range of apartments, with excellent communal facilities, in a stunning building just off Millennium Square. We’re fortunate to be working on the project with a wide range of other highly skilled, fellow Leeds businesses and as a collective we’re delighted to be able to share our knowledge and expertise with Leeds Beckett University’s students.”

Andrew Chapman, from Brewster Bye Architects, adds: “It’s always rewarding to be able to support the future talent of the construction industry and there’s no doubt this project is a fantastic case study to learn from. The modern building is specifically designed to respond to the tight urban nature of the site, next to the stunning façade of the O2 Academy. It’s being built using stone to match adjacent buildings and features two stepped storeys on top, constructed mainly of glass, which will make it a prominent landmark in this fast-evolving part of the city.”

Tahira Hamid and Alison Jackson, who are both Senior Lecturers at Leeds Beckett University’s School of Built Environment & Engineering, accompanied the students. Alison says: “Site visits are hugely valuable to our students because they offer a real taste of life on live construction projects. Having the opportunity to tour this site provided a great insight into both the construction programme and, more crucially, the thought process behind all the various aspects of the scheme. We’re grateful to YPP, Adept, Broadley and Brewster Bye and look forward to seeing the development complete in the coming months.”

The Cookridge Street site was formerly home to Australian themed bar chain Walkabout, which closed in 2013 and was demolished last year. When work completes later this year, the new development will also offer two ground floor retail units, a lettings office that will be occupied by YPP, and a wide range of communal facilities for residents including a lounge, gym, cinema room and study areas.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Steven Wright .