Architecture
Universities
Leeds Beckett University, Carnegie School of Sport

Leeds Beckett University, Carnegie School of Sport Leeds, UK

The new facility, at the university’s Headingley Campus, is home to students and academics from the Carnegie School of Sport.

The £45m building is a base for the school’s undergraduate, postgraduate and research programmes and provides a hub for the elite athletes who use the university’s sports performance expertise. One of the main features is a 60m covered rooftop running track, along with an environmental chamber which can mimic different altitudes and environments.

The new facility creates a modern addition to the campus reflecting existing historic buildings through a narrative of vertical fenestration panels and its contemporary material palette. Concave aluminium panels reflect back in reverse Doric columns allowing an interplay of light across the building. An interesting feature is the elevated 60m competitive indoor running track encased in red anodised panels patterned with a section of muscle – the unifying element across all disciplines within the School.

The new building unites the School of Sport currently dispersed over five buildings into one for the first time. To facilitate this two blocks running perpendicular to the indoor running track are joined by a central atrium with double-height glazing offering long-ranging views over outdoor athletics provision visually linking indoor and outdoor use. Adjacencies have also been carefully considered to support collaborative working practices within the School.

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