Design unites previously disassociated disciplines by creating interconnected spaces and studios
AHR for University of Huddersfield
Contract value: £21.6m
GIA: 7,232m2
Cost per m2: £2,987
The University of Huddersfield wanted a collaborative learning environment for design-focused teaching. Home to the School of Art, Design and Architecture, the building’s design unites previously disassociated disciplines by creating interconnected spaces and studios. Endorsed by the Barbara Hepworth Foundation, the university wanted the architecture to reflect the sculptor’s abstract design approach. The site’s challenging topography with a 5m step change was addressed by the way the design ‘folds’ its way up the sloping site and forms a central atrium that affords open views, terminating in an 18m cantilever over the adjacent canal.