E.C. Stoner Building, Computer Science Building, Mathematics/Earth Sciences Building, Senior Common Room, Garstang Building, Manton Building, Communications And Edward Boyle Library

The E.C. Stoner Building, Computer Science Building, Mathematics/Earth Sciences Building, Senior Common Room, Garstang Building, Manton Building, Communications and Edward Boyle Library form a major group of university campus buildings at the southern end of Leeds University campus, designed between 1964 and 1976 by the distinguished architectural practice Chamberlin Powell and Bon, with structural engineers Flint and Neill.

Materials and Construction

The buildings are of reinforced concrete, now largely painted or rendered, with blockwall partitions. The concrete is banded externally and characterised by regular put-log holes and a pitted surface texture.

Campus Plan and Layout

The complex occupies a south-facing slope at the southern end of the university campus. The majority of the buildings are long, narrow spine constructions, linked by covered walkways that join the components at different heights as the ground slopes steeply down to the south. Areas of paving and broad stairways also link the components. All buildings are aligned on the compass points.

Four buildings – the Senior Common Room (west), Mathematics/Earth Sciences (north), Garstang (south) and Roger Stevens Building (east, listed separately) – form a square around a central courtyard called Chancellors Court. The E.C. Stoner Building extends eastwards from the northern side of this square, with Computer Studies projecting northwards. At the eastern end of E.C. Stoner is the Physics Deck (excluded from the listing), also projecting northwards. To the north of the Mathematics block is the Library, linked by a walkway and later infill building. Social Sciences (excluded) lies to the north and east. South of the Roger Stevens Building is the Manton Building, with a southern arm of Garstang running parallel to the west. These are joined at their southern end by a later building. Beneath the lecture theatre part of Roger Stevens is the Institute of Communication Studies, and to its east is a square pool, originally intended as a cooling tank for the heating system but now only decorative. Much of the Institute of Communication Studies is not externally visible; the interior was not inspected and is not of interest, but those parts extending beyond the footprint of the Lecture Theatre block are included.

Walkways and Circulation

The principal high-level linking walkway is the Red Route, which connects Social Sciences to the Library, the Library to Mathematics and via a bridge to Computer Science and E.C. Stoner. A further bridge links to the Roger Stevens Building, which in turn links to both Garstang and Manton. Earth Sciences is linked to the Senior Common Room and via another bridge to the Charles Morris Residences. The Red Route is partially enclosed with bottom-opening casement windows below raked fixed glazing, and has built-in concrete bench seating at intervals beneath the windows. Where the walkway forms a bridge it is open to the sides with an iron handrail.

A broad flight of steps rises from Chancellors Court between Mathematics and Computer Sciences, leading towards the Library, and another rises from between Garstang and Manton into Chancellors Court. A lower walkway at Chancellors Court level, the Green Route, also links to Garstang and Manton.

The Spine Buildings: Structural System

The Mathematics/Earth Sciences, E.C. Stoner, Computer Sciences, Garstang, Manton and Senior Common Room buildings are all 'spine' buildings with a standardised structure. This consists of continuous floors 50 feet (15.25 metres) wide, supported by twin groups of cluster columns at 45 feet (13.72 metre) intervals. The 12 feet (3.7 metre) square columns are arranged in 7 feet (2.13 metre) square clusters which form vertical ducts for services and lifts. Across the building the clusters are at 25 feet (7.6 metre) centres with a 10 feet (3 metre) cantilever on either side. The beams and cantilever beams connecting the column clusters form horizontal ducts for services. Within this structure there is flexibility in the arrangement of partitions and window openings.

The ends of the beams are expressed externally, projecting in pairs below the concrete floor plates. The roofs are primarily flat but incorporate arched central clerestory roof lighting and projecting ducts and service shafts from the tops of the columns. Each floor has almost continuous glazing, recessed from the concrete beams, with opening casements and clerestory glazing. The ground floors are generally recessed and in some of the buildings are partially or fully open, intended for parking (for example, Senior Common Room) or access for equipment (for example, E.C. Stoner).

Mathematics/Earth Sciences

Built in 1964-5 on the north side of Chancellors Court, this is a four-storey building. The mathematics department includes a spur projecting northwards. At the eastern side the building is entered at third floor level via a semi-circular entrance foyer added in the twenty-first century, and via the Red Route from the Library and E.C. Stoner. Earth Sciences, occupying the western end of the block and with a northward return at the west end, is accessed from the ground floor and the Red Route. It has some original fixed bench desks on the ground floor but was refurbished in 2008.

E.C. Stoner Building (Physics)

Built in 1968, this building runs west-east from the north side of Chancellors Court. It has five storeys plus a partial basement level, and fourteen bays. The east end is deliberately left unfinished to allow for the addition of further buildings. The Red Route runs along its north side, with stairs to the different levels immediately inside; these have terrazzo flooring and iron handrails. At the centre of the spine are steps rising from the south side and running through and underneath the building, leading to a roadway that runs along the north side.

Some rearrangement of the internal spaces has taken place but the main structure remains, as do original staircases, doors and parquet flooring. The blockwork internal walls retain some original rails designed for the suspension of cupboards or bookcases along the corridors; these survive in some areas of several of the buildings. Geoffry Powell is credited with the design of this building.

Computing

Added in 1971 as a northern spur to the west end of E.C. Stoner, this mirrors the northern portion of Mathematics. It is of four storeys but is of the same height as E.C. Stoner as it is on rising ground, and is in matching style and materials. The north end is deliberately left unfinished to allow for future buildings to be added.

Senior Common Room

Built in 1966 on the west side of Chancellors Court, this has three floors supported on pillars above an open ground floor planned as a car park. It is linked to Earth Sciences to the north and Garstang to the south by walkways.

The east elevation, into Chancellors Court, is crossed from right to left by the Red Route steps which enter at third floor level from Earth Sciences and are inset into the face of the building, breaking up the horizontal lines of the floor beams with a continuous concrete parapet in three long stages descending from right to left down to ground level. The top floor is double height with the upper level recessed, and the concrete parapet above the windows is broken by horizontal openings behind which is the clerestory glazing of the upper level. Rainwater hoods project between the parapet openings.

A broad set of steps between the Common Room and Earth Sciences descends down into Chancellors Court beneath the bridge of the Red Route walkway. The west elevation is similar but the staircase rises from the ground floor to the left to the third floor, and is enclosed behind glazing rather than exposed. The main entrances are on this side of the building.

Internally, the wide stairs on the west elevation lead to the second floor level which has a central common room with a bar and buffet area, with some original wood panelling and slatted wooden ceiling panels. Other rooms are altered, and the third floor was redesigned in 2006 with smaller rooms to the north end and a large common room with a double height ceiling in the centre with original clerestory glazing. Doors to the main staircase are original, wood panelled with sockets for the hand instead of handles; later handles have been added.

Garstang Building

Built in 1968, this is an L-shaped building forming the western half of the southern side of Chancellors Court then turning south. It has four storeys on the Chancellors Court side, but six to the south including two former residential floors at the upper levels, intended to be converted to departmental use as its needs expanded.

The Green Route walkway enters at second floor level from the Roger Stevens Building (ground level in Chancellors Court) and runs along the east side of the southern wing, being open to the outside. A bridge also links to the Senior Common Room and a fifth floor Red Route bridge links to the Lecture Theatre. The southern end of the block was extended in around 1996 by Ellwood Hooson, with the same external dimensions and floor levels but without the glazing pattern of the original; it is not of special interest. The north elevation at ground floor has had a curved glass wall added in the twenty-first century, enclosing a former open-fronted walkway beneath the upper levels.

The Garstang Building has been refurbished internally and apart from the basic structure no features survive. Some of the original metal-framed glazing has been replaced with new windows of similar appearance.

Manton Building

Built in 1969, this mirrors the southern wing of Garstang, with linking bridges at fifth floor (Red Route) and Chancellors Court (Green Route) level. It has also undergone some internal refurbishment and on the eastern side is a two-storey red brick addition. At its southern end is a large new building of around 1996 that links across to Garstang and extends eastwards; this has six storeys and continues the horizontal lines and continuous glazing of the Chamberlin Powell and Bon buildings though departs from them by adding brick in the lower storeys, metal cladding, a partially curving pitched roof and a large external glazed stair tower on the north side. The interior was not inspected and the 1996 building is not of special interest.

Edward Boyle Library

Built in 1975, this building is situated to the north of the northern spur of Mathematics, linked by the Red Route walkway and a later 'infill' building of 1996 by Jackson & Calvert; this space was always intended to be filled. The construction is of reinforced concrete in continuous horizontal bands supported on pillars, each band canted out from the one below, with almost continuous glazing recessed between the bands.

The ground slopes upwards from the south, so that the walkway from the north, entering at ground level, is at first floor level as it runs along the east side of the building and second floor through Mathematics. The different levels are linked externally by broad flights of stairs. There is a ground floor entrance on the east side of the library which is glazed to double height, encasing the walkway above.

To the rear, the five floors to the southern end become three to the north. On the north side the Red Route walkway pierces the left side of the building but does not provide access. The glazing on this side is largely restricted to a projecting stair block which rises above the height of the rest. To either side of this the internal arrangement of study cubicles is expressed in projecting stepped concrete bands.

The south side of the library is almost all encased in the 1996 extension in pale orange brick with extensive glazing. The original walkway continues through this building into Mathematics, but the remainder (the 1996 building) is not of special interest.

The interior of the library has a central open well, with book stacks around the sides and stair and lift towers towards each end. Each floor is carried on supporting square columns and has a concrete parapet, bordering the central well, that carries heating ducts. At the outer edge along each long side are study carrels in rows stepped down to maximise light; some of the plywood originals have been replaced with hardboard. Other study areas are interspersed with the book stacks. Above the fifth floor is a double height clerestory with internal walkways round the edge.

Historical Context

Leeds University began as the Yorkshire College of Science in 1877, becoming part of Victoria University in 1887 and an independent university in 1904. Some of the earliest buildings were commissioned by the college from Alfred Waterhouse, including the Great Hall, the Textiles School and the Baines wing (all listed Grade II). Further work was undertaken by his son Paul and grandson Michael. From 1926 the firm of Lanchester, Lucas and Lodge was appointed to design new buildings at the university, and the Brotherton Library (1936, listed Grade II), Parkinson Building (opened 1951, listed Grade II) and others were designed by them. After the war, Lodge, assisted by Alan Johnson, was responsible for University House (1955) and Man Made Fibres (1954-6). Johnson alone undertook a series of science and engineering buildings between 1957 and 1963.

After Lodge's retirement in 1956, the university took the opportunity to look afresh at their requirements, and undertook a limited competition to appoint new architects to design additions to the campus. Chamberlin Powell and Bon won this competition and were appointed in 1959. They produced a Development Plan for the new campus which was based on interviews with staff and flow charts of students' movements through the precinct.

This plan, published in 1960 and revised in 1963, offered a model for the study of university campuses throughout the 1960s. They looked at both the individual needs of departments and the relationship between them, and identified three kinds of accommodation: laboratories and teaching space that would not change, laboratories and teaching space that could change within the serviced cluster column grid, and flexible laboratories with large heavy equipment that changed regularly. Car parks were planned below heavily serviced research laboratories, and the varying needs for lecture theatres of different departments acknowledged. Flexibility was addressed by the provision of 'joker' flats in the top floor of blocks, into which departments could expand as necessary. Internal walkways between the blocks were designed to ease movement over the sloping site, and the whole was envisaged as a tartan pattern of linked spine buildings largely aligned east-west.

The realisation of the masterplan was only ever partial, and it was modified a number of times. Blocks which were built included Mathematics and Earth Sciences (1964-5), Senior Common Room (1966), E.C. Stoner building for Physics and the Physics Deck (1968), Garstang (1968), Manton (1969), Roger Stevens Lecture Theatre (1970), Computer Science (1971), Edward Boyle Library (1975) and Block 19 for Social Science (1976). A small extension to the Students Union was built in 1969, and two residential blocks, Charles Morris Hall and Henry Price Residence, were completed in 1965 and 1964 respectively.

The site on which the new buildings were constructed was previously an area of close-packed Victorian and Edwardian terraced housing, due for demolition, on a south-facing slope towards the city centre, and south of the main bulk of the existing university buildings. To the west of the existing blocks further expansion of residential accommodation was planned, but this was halted by a planning appeal in 1975 which resulted in the establishment of a Conservation Area covering the surviving terraces of houses. The area thus preserved was incorporated into the university, but this portion of the masterplan was restricted to the provision of the two residential buildings. A second square of teaching buildings was also planned to the east, but not implemented.

Later alterations to the buildings have included an infill block between Mathematics and the Library, an extension to the Social Science block, and large additions to the Biology and Biophysics buildings. There has also been fairly widespread refurbishment of interiors, though the basic structures have remained intact; on-going change and adaptation were planned for from the outset, and this flexibility is an important element of the buildings' success.