I’ve risked my last train home out of rainy Brighton to stop and take a picture of this beauty. This is the Brighthelm Centre. I love the textured concrete at the front of the building, and while the brick behind doesn’t do much for me, it certainly makes a great first impression. The cross recessed into the textured concrete is a particularly nice touch.
A touch of brutalism framed by vegetation, what else is there to say!
Division House boasts 39 stylish studios across three floors, delivering a total of 23,713 sq ft of contemporary living space. Conveniently situated in central Sheffield, between Sheffield Hallam University and The University of Sheffield, this development is popular among young professionals and students alike.
Who cares! Division House is a concrete (ex-office?) block of rather small proportions, but that makes it all the more charming. Notice the incised triangles in-between the retrofitted windows.
The block next door is good, too, but I couldn’t get a good shot of it. The tower in-between separates the two buildings nicely.
I love buildings that just look fucking massive and heavy and fortress-like. The Moore Street Electricity Substation is one of them. Grade II listed, too!
A Leeds University Public Art trail Mooch [10/08/24]
In order:
Roger Stevens Building
Perhaps my new favourite university building, sorry to the Renold Building x
Barbara Hepworth – Dual Form
I believe there’s also a Barbara Hepworth sculpture in one of the courts at Lancaster University, which I didn’t find out about until last year, due to my minimal attendance on campus while I was a student 🥴
Mitzi Cunliffe – Man-Made Fibres
A gorgeous stone carving, commissioned as part of the Clothworkers Building South to reflect the progress in the field of synthetic fibres.
Juanjo Novella – Curtain
Detail shot.
Staircase at the Henry Price Building
An unnecessarily extra, geometrically askew staircase, especially delightful coming west from St George’s Field.
School of Chemical and Process Engineering building
Staircase detail shot.
School of Healthcare
Staircase detail shot at the rear of the building.
Quentin Bell – The Dreamer
Inspired by a magician’s trick that Bell saw as a child. There’s something melancholy about the sculpture at situated in a quiet courtyard, surrounded by leafy vegetatation. It’s been moved several times but this feels like the right place for it.
P H Y S I C S
At the rear of the Physics Research Deck.
Bank House
And finally, away from the campus, en-route to the train station, the striking former regional headquarters of the Bank of England. Via British Listed Buildings:
Inverted ziggurat of in-situ reinforced-concrete construction with grey Cornish granite and bronze cladding. 5-storeys plus basement
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The Public Art Trail at the University of Leeds is inexplicably only available to download as a PDF, but is well worth it. I far prefer architecture to sculpture, but luckily this has both, and anything which gets me on a guided walk is a win in my book.