Dig for victory! Work starts on new Leeds College of Building site on city's South Bank

A new Leeds College of Building site is now taking shape between Cudbear Street and Black Bull Street in Hunslet following the appointment of Clugston Construction as the project’s main contractor.

The four-storey building, offering a range of classrooms, workshops and an impressive central atrium, will sit alongside the college’s existing South Bank premises.

Work on the scheme – which is being backed by an £11.9m grant through the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership Growth Deal – is expected to be done and dusted towards the end of next year.

College principal Ian Billyard said: “We’re delighted to start work on this impressive project, within weeks of securing planning permission for it.

“Clugston Construction has a strong presence in Leeds and a successful track record working on a wide range of high-profile education projects, throughout the north of England and beyond, which made the company the ideal partner for this contract.”

Clugston managing director Steve Radcliffe said he was particularly pleased to be involved in a project that would help nurture future talent for the construction sector.

Design work on the new building has been handled by architecture practice Fuse Studios.

The South Bank runs along the southern side of the River Aire and roughly stretches from Holbeck to Leeds Dock.

It covers the equivalent of 250 football pitches and is being promoted as providing some of Europe’s most exciting regeneration opportunities.

The area is already home to a burgeoning ‘education quarter’ that includes the Ruth Gorse Academy and an expanded Leeds City College campus as well as Leeds College of Building.