A flagship development at Leeds Beckett University (LBU) is now available to view via a fully interactive virtual tour.
Although online tours have been around for a good few years, LBU claims that this one – allowing ‘visitors’ to fully explore all 11 storeys of its new £80m Leeds School of Arts building – is among the largest ever commissioned.
Despite being nominally open for business, COVID restrictions mean that a virtual tour offers the most comprehensive exploration of a facility which will be utilised by 2,500 students and 100 staff specialising in film, TV, technology, sound, music, drama, dance, and fashion.
Construction on the building began in early 2018, with the finished article housing a professional standard recording studio, 180-seat performance theatre, and 220-seat Dolby Atmos cinema, as well as dedicated TV, film, green screen and black box studios, editing suites, rehearsal and make-up rooms, and performance spaces.
The facility is topped off by a pair of roof terraces giving panoramic views across Leeds, as well as distinct spaces in which to host performances and events.
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“This incredible new building offers our talented students, staff and creative-industry partners access to world leading facilities,” said Professor Peter Slee, vice-chancellor of LBU.
“It underpins the powerful claims our city can make as a capital of culture and a thriving creative economy.”
The development was also welcomed by the dean of Leeds School of Arts at LBU, Professor Lisa Stansbie.
“Our new building is equipped with cutting-edge technology which opens up creative opportunities for our school,” she said.
“Extraordinary creative practice will be incubated in the Leeds School of Arts and we look forward to sharing it with our local community and our region. With the most up-to-date digital technologies, we are ready to demonstrate and celebrate the importance of arts practice in an uncertain world.”