Our building for August, as interpreted by our Artist in Residence ‘Bill Hunt’ is Roger Stevens Building, University of Leeds

Architects: Chamberlin Powell and Bon

Location: University of Leeds

Completed: 1968

Listed: Grade II*

Chamberlin Powell & Bon won a limited competition to make new additions to the university in 1959 and produced a grouOur building for August, as interpreted by our Artist in Residence ‘Bill Hunt’ is Rudolph Hall, also known as the Yale Art and Architecture Building Architect: Paul Rudolph Location : Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut Completed: 1963 Paul Rudolph was awarded the commission for the Yale Art and Architecture building during his six year stint as departmental chair, between 1958 and 1965. His unique position as both client and architect gave him the opportunity to explore a bold new direction for architecture that still divides opinion. It is one of the earliest and best known examples of Brutalist architecture in the United States. The building was mainly constructed of in-situ bush hammered concrete and smooth finished concrete and it was severely damaged by fire in 1969. By the 2000’s the building had undergone several further renovations that compromised Rudolph’s original design. A survey showed the building was no longer fit for purpose to comply with contemporary fire regulations and accessibility requirements. The university commissioned Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects (GSAA), a firm led by a former student of Rudolph, to lead a $126 million renovation and extension project. Completed 2008 Interesting Quote: “It made Rudolph’s career, and it will always be, for good and bad, the building with which he was most identified” nd-breaking master plan in 1960 which would help shape the university’s post-war growth.

The Roger Stevens Building was designed in 1963 as a centralised lecture theatre block that would serve a wide number of the university’s faculties so it was therefore placed at the heart of the campus.

The building is set on the eastern side of the University’s Chancellor’s Court, which overlooks a rectangular pool and a sculpture by Quentin Bell.

The Roger Stevens Building listed grade II* in 2010, is the centrepiece of the complex of buildings designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon between 1958 and 1968 for the Leeds University campus.

Interesting note: Students compared it to a church organ, a robot or a car engine.