The Attenborough Building is the tallest building on the campus of the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

, and houses arts and

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

departments. The building comprises three distinct elements: an 18-storey tower block containing 270 offices and tutorial rooms; a low-rise building, known within the University as the 'Attenborough Seminar Block', containing

seminar A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some parti ...

rooms and computing facilities; and an underground area housing two large lecture theatres and the University Film Theatre. It was designed by

Arup Associates Arup (officially Arup Group Limited) is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London which provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environmen ...

and constructed between 1968 and 1970, with

Ove Arup Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, CBE, MICE, MIStructE, FCIOB (16 April 1895 – 5 February 1988) was an English engineer who founded Arup Group Limited, a multinational corporation that offers engineering, design, planning, project management, an ...

as the chief engineers. The university's development plan at the time called for two other similar towers, but these were never built. The building was named after

Frederick Attenborough Frederick Levi Attenborough (4 April 1887 – 20 March 1973) was a British academic and principal of University College, Leicester. Biography He was the son of Mary (née Saxton) and Frederick August Attenborough of Stapleford, Nottinghamshir ...

, who was principal of the then University College from 1932 until 1951, and father of

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

and David Attenborough. By the time of the opening ceremony Frederick was elderly and frail, so the building was opened on his behalf by his youngest son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

. The tower reaches a height of 52 metres, making it one of the tallest buildings in the city. It is constructed with a concrete frame, which was cast ''in situ'', and clad with pre-cast concrete panels. Each floor consists of three leaves of space containing the offices. These are separated by the central lobby and service area, which contains a staircase and a

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobil ...

. It was built with a

paternoster lift A paternoster (, , or ) or paternoster lift is a passenger elevator which consists of a chain of open compartments (each usually designed for two people) that move slowly in a loop up and down inside a building without stopping. Passengers can ...

, but this was closed in December 2017 as maintenance had become too expensive. The University's hilltop location makes the top floor of the tower one of the best vantage points in the city, to the extent that the University have fixed a notice at the base of the tower warning tourists that it is not open for the public "to view the city from a height". The top floor currently houses offices for the research students of the School of Archaeology and Ancient History, and formerly contained music practice rooms, including a full-size

grand piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, until it was moved out on 29 March 2007. The seminar block includes the main entrance to the building. It is connected to the second floor of the tower by a covered bridge. It contains small teaching rooms on four levels, including one basement level. The block underwent significant refurbishment during the summer of 2005, including work to install a lift to make the building conform to the

Disability Discrimination Act In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, a number of countries have passed laws aimed at reducing discrimination against people with disabilities. These laws have begun to appear as the notion of civil rights has become more influential globally ...

– previously, access to the different levels of the seminar block was by staircase only. While the base of the tower uses yellow-brown brick seen in other buildings on campus, the seminar block features a concrete finish that more closely matches

Denys Lasdun Sir Denys Louis Lasdun, CH, CBE, RA (8 September 1914, Kensington, London – 11 January 2001, Fulham, London) was an eminent English architect, the son of Nathan Lasdun (1879–1920) and Julie (''née'' Abrahams; 1884–1963). Probably his b ...

's adjacent brutalist Charles Wilson Building. In front of the main entrance is a raised

piazza A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

, beneath which are the subterranean lecture theatres. There are two lecture theatres, seating 204 and 96 people respectively. The third room was previously a proscenium theatre, and was used by the Leicester University Theatre (LUT) society for their performances. In 2003, the theatre was converted into the 144-seat University Film Theatre, featuring a projection screen and surround sound system, in preparation of the launch of a new Film Studies degree. The building should not be confused with the Attenborough Arts Centre, which is located on the opposite side of University Road, adjacent to the University's Medical Sciences Building.

Thoughts on the building

Due to its unusual design, it has been compared by Leicester residents to a giant "

cheese grater A grater, also known as a shredder, is a kitchen utensil used to grate foods into fine pieces. Uses Food preparation Several types of graters feature different sizes of grating slots, and can therefore aid in the preparation of a variety of ...

References

External links

* * , Arup Associates *{{cite web , title=University of Leicester Development Plan 2002 , url=http://www.archiana.com/le_developmentplan/Chapter03/CentralCampus.html , url-status=dead , access-date=15 November 2002 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021115155917/http://www.archiana.com/le_developmentplan/Chapter03/CentralCampus.html , archive-date=15 November 2002
Attenborough Building Centrally Timetabled Rooms
University of Leicester Audio Visual Services 1970 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Leicester University and college buildings completed in 1970 University of Leicester