Engineering Building, University Of Leicester

The Engineering Building at the University of Leicester is a notable university engineering structure built between 1961 and 1963, designed by architects James Stirling and James Gowan. It features red engineering brick, red tile clad surfaces, and patent glazing, supported by a concrete frame with flat roofs on its towers.

The building consists of a pair of multi-storey towers: one designated for offices and the other for research. These towers are positioned above two lecture theatres that have raking undersides, all resting on a brick podium. Attached to this podium is a low engineering workshop complex, primarily single-storeyed, but with a taller section on the south-west perimeter that includes an overhanging upper storey above a recessed gallery. An octagonal chimney rises from the center of the low workshop block.

The overall design is complex and sculptural. The office tower is fully glazed, although the current glazing is not original. The lower research tower is primarily constructed of brick, featuring narrow horizontal bands of glazing that are canted outwards at each storey. The lecture theatres have blind tiled walls, while the engineering workshops have brick walls and roofs that are fully glazed in a series of ridges set at a 45-degree angle to the perimeter of the block. The perimeter is finished with a complex rhythm of chamfers, squares, and points.