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Constructed between 1962 and 1967, the Charles Wilson Building, nicknamed 'Optimus Prime' by students, was designed by Denys Lasdun and Partners, whose work also includes the National Theatre in London and the Grade I listed building the Royal College of Physicians. The building was constructed on an old bowling green and embodies the typical Lasdun architectural style, emphasising the horizontality of the broader six story block, with concrete and glass banding, which works in contrast with the verticality of the tower. Developed during the university’s expansionist program in the 60s, the building was designed to offer many of the functions for staff and students which it still pervade to this day, such as the Student Support Centre for issues such as those to do with with visas, fees and welfare. As well as this, there is the foods shop 'Delicious' and the Chai restaurant which serves different hot foods every day. On the exterior of the face of the building is the University Clock, produced in 2003 to commemorate Arthur Humphreys, the Collage and University’s first Professor of English. The building itself is dedicated to Charles H. Wilson, Principal of the Collage from 1951 to 1957 and the universities first Vice Chancellor from 1957-1961. The building was granted a civic trust award in 1969.

Charles Wilson Building, near completion, 1960s

Students eating ice cream in Victoria Park, 1990s 

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The Charles Wilson Building was constructed in 1967 as part of the university's expansion program in the 1960s. In its present form, it contains a plethora of student support services from counselling and financial support to providing affordable and tasty meals at the Chai restaurant and food hall for both students and staff.    

The Charles Wilson Building

This tour will give you a true insight into he university: its history, facilities and the student experience

The Leicestershire Lunatic Asylum (later Leicestershire and Rutland Lunatic Asylum) was one of the first to be built under the Counties Asylum Act (1808). "Lunatic" was the term most commonly used in the 19th century and before to describe people suffering from mental illness. The building was constructed of white Mountsorrel bricks and Bangor slates in a late Georgian provincial style. The asylum opened in 1837 with 104 inmates, with separate accommodation for paupers dependent on public welfare and those supported by private means. Inmates were given a variety of work to do as part of there treatment, including farming, shoemaking for men and needlework for women. As the asylum grew, additional buildings were added including redbrick wings behind each side of the main block in 1842 and 1848-49. A separate house for the medical superintendent was added in 1872 (now College House). By the turn of the twentieth century, conditions for the asylum's inmates had deteriorated and new premises were constructed at Carlton Hayes, Narborough. The last inmates left in 1908, leaving the premises empty.  The following year, the Leicestershire and Rutland Territorial Association began to make plans to convert the former asylum building into a large 'Base Hospital' in the event of war. These plans were rapidly implemented when war broke out in August 1914 and the buildings, which had fallen into disrepair, were rapidly adapted to receive the first wounded soldiers on 1 September. For the remainder of the war and into 1919 convoys of wounded were transported from the frontline and received at the hospital for medical care. The original 520 beds soon proved inadequate and over the next two years further buildings were erected to accommodate and additional 1045 patients. The Hospital was staffed by a small staff of administrative personnel and much larger numbers of medical and nursing staff, under the direction of the administrator Colonel Louis K. Harris. A number of prominent local medics also served on the staff, including C. J. Bond, R. Wallace Henry, and Astley Vavasour Clarke. Many of the nursing staff received decorations and mentions in dispatches during the war, including the Principal Matron, Miss C. E. Vincent (Royal Red Cross 1st Class). During the conflict, 74,652 patients are record as having been treated by the hospital, with nearly 8,000 operations carried out. The majority of patients were discharged and returned to active duty, while many others were discharged as unfit or transferred to other hospitals. Just 514 died whilst at the hospital, many of whom were buried across the road in Welford Road Cemetery.  By 1917 discussions were taking place across the country about commemorating those killed in the war. A temporary memorial was unveiled in Leicester's Town Hall Square on 28 June, and in November The Leicester Daily Post published an editorial arguing that ‘good art’, alone, was insufficient. ‘Something more is required; something of practical utility, yet ministering to the highest which is in us’. This was the first public suggestion that Leicester and Leicestershire's war memorial should be a University College, forerunner to a University. The old county asylum building and grounds were identified as an ideal location. In 1919 the site was bought by Thomas Fielding Johnson, a 91 year old worsted manufacturer, to accommodate the proposed University College and Wyggeston boys and girls schools. The proposals gathered pace in the immediate post-war period, until Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland College opened in 1921 with a small group of no more than 15 students and 4 teaching staff, led by the Acting Principal Revd R. F. Rattray. From 1919, modifications continued. The major quadrangle was closed off and minor buildings where subsequently demolished to make room for the Engineering Building and the library. Various other sections of the complex where converted. The medical superintendent room became College House. The World War I nurses home was used a women’s hostel and then as an Arts and Social Sciences centre until its demolition once the Attenborough building had been opened. Since 1970, the lawn in front of the fielding Johnson Building has hosted a plethora of major sculptures. Initially, Henry Moor gifted his ‘Draped Seated Woman’, followed by ‘Oval With Points’. However, these where recalled after his unfortunate passing, to be replaced in 1990 with the seminal piece ‘Souls’ by Helaine Blumenfield. Additionally, the western courtyard has ‘Triangulated Form’ by Robert Adams. The complex is now part of the College of Social Sciences, Arts &amp; Humanities and the University Professional Services. It includes the offices of the President and Vice-Chancellor, as well as the council chamber of the university. The original façade of the building is a Grade II listed building.

The Grade II listed Fielding Johnson Building forms the main administrative hub of the University of Leicester. It was built in 1837 to designs by architect William Parsons as the Leicestershire Lunatic Asylum. During World War I the site was occupied by the Fifth Northern General Hospital, providing care for nearly 75,000 wounded soldiers. From 1921 the building housed Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland College, predecessor to the University of Leicester. 

Fielding Johnson Building, University of Leicester

Although the purpose-built university library in its present state was opened by the queen in December 2008, the history of the library and the collection it holds, has a story that stretches back to the very founding of the University Collage. The library commenced in 1920 with the donations of personal collections from local businessmen, which was temporarily housed in the ‘Pillar Room’ of the Fielding Johnson Building. However, as the collection and the number of students grew, it became clear that a new building had to be constructed. As such, in 1950, the architect T. Shirley Worthington was commissioned to construct a new library. The new two storey building under a lightweight steel supported roof, bisected the original quadrangle of the Fielding Johnson building, which can still be seen to this day. However, over time, space yet again proved to be a constricting factor for the ever-growing collection. As such, in 1974, the process began of the construction of a library for the university that is like the one you see today. Commissioned by the university from Castle Park &amp; Dean Architects, the first of the three phases were opened in 1975 by the poet and former member of staff, Philip Larkin. The building, of reinforced concrete construction, was characterised by reflective Black glass which was popular at the time. The second and third phases were unveiled in 2004. The design criteria included the requirement for a light and welcoming building with an academic tone. The building in its present state followed suite with this style and is home to a variety of facilities for student learning, including group word rooms with large monitors, computer rooms, a postgraduate lounge and a café.

The University of Leicester Library, named The David Wilson Library. Home to the university's extensive collection of books, the university archive and student facilities such as: silent work spaces, conference rooms, computer rooms and an on site cafe. Opened in 2008 by Queen Elizabeth II, it has won many awards for it's architecture and facilities.   

David Wilson Library

The Engineering building is the most famous and internationally recognised building on the campus. Designed and constructed by the architect James Stirling in association with Wilson Lovatt and Sons Ltd., it is the first major building to be constructed by the architect, who went of to become one of the greatest post war architects in Britain. It is known in architectural circles as a landmark of 20th century architecture. The building was featured in a set of four commemorative stamps produced in 1971, which illustrate the buildings national importance. The building is characterised by two towers, one tall and translucent, the other banded to indicate the floor levels, each rising from cantilevered lecture theatres, with the taller tower defining the main entrance. The towers are clad in red Accrington brick with matching Dutch red tiles over any other areas of concrete work. The teaching block which spans over two thirds of the site is defined by its prismatic roof structure which is set at 45 degrees to the wall, creating a crystalline form which glows after dark over the storey- high brick plinth, following the notion of the requirement of true north light in the workshops. The building received the prestigious R.S. Reynolds Memorial award in 1965 from the American Institute of Architects for ‘honouring a significant form of architecture’. It was listed Grade II in 1993 by the Department of National Heritage. In 2008, the building was named by the Telegraph as one of Britain’s top fifty most inspiring buildings.

The Engineering Building is the most widely renowned building on campus. Designed and constructed by the architect James Stirling in 1971, it became an early symbol of his seminal architectural style and contains a variety of labs and lecture rooms for engineering students and for other colleges of the university.   

The Engineering Building

The Attenborough building was designed and constructed in 1970 by the architect Sir Philip Dowson of Arrup associates in conjunction with John Laing Construction Ltd. Originally the site of the former nurse’s hostel, the tower's original purpose was as the Arts and Social Sciences tower, in the form of three towers to give an impression of visual slenderness. The 48m, eighteen story building functions as rooms for tutorials and staff meetings. The high-rise building contains a variety of teaching spaces, including two lecture theatres and a film theatre and is attached to a four-storey seminar building which is partially below ground level. The underground lecture theatres form a raised brick-paved piazza to the front entrance of the building leading towards the library. The base of the tower in yellow buff brick reflects the construction of earlier campus buildings. The building has been nicknamed ‘the cheese grater’ because of its characteristic appearance, with the outward slanting windows for the purpose of ventilation. The building is named after Mr. F.L. Attenborough, Principal of the University Collage from 1931- 1951. The building was opened by his youngest son, John in 1970, the same day that Richard and David Attenborough received honorary degrees from the university. The building received a Civic Trust Commendation in 1972 and now houses part of the Colleges of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities. The tone of the building is enhanced by the art installation ‘Eye of Time’, produced by Allan Mills in 2007, which can be seen just outside the building.

Constructed and designed in 1970, the Attenborough Building (named after one of the universities eponymous founding families) is one of the most widely known buildings on the campus. This is in part due to to it's extensive complex of lecture theatres and seminar rooms which are used by all colleges at the university.

The Attenborough Building

The Percy Gee building, completed in 1958, has acted as a base for the Student’s Union since it’s inception. Within is a large concert hall, now an O2 academy, which can also host lectures, and house other social features for students, such as bars, shops, offices and common rooms. The venue within has hosted a range of artists performing to both students and members of the public from its construction in the 1950s onwards, from the Rolling Stones in the 1960s, to the rapper Dave, who performed in the o2 Academy Last year. The building is named after Mr Percy Gee, CBE, LLD, JD who was Chairman of the Collage Council from 1945 to University status in 1957, when he became pro Chancellor in 1962. Unveiled by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in 1958, the building took the form of a typical academic building of the fifties with the university coat of arms over the doorway. However, this all changed in February 2018 when the university began a significant redevelopment of the building’s façade, as well as a massive extension of the East wing to meet the new Feilding Johnson Square. These developments include a brand-new food court that contains a Starbucks and a variety of food stalls from different cultures with an additional doubling of the the amount of learning spaces and a new informatics labs.

The Percy Gee Building, primarily the home of the Students Union and the university events hall (now an o2 academy), is one of the oldest buildings on the campus in relation to when Leicester College attained its university status and was opened in 1958 by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.  

The Percy Gee Building

The Maurice Shock Building was designed by W.F. Johnson Partners of Leamington Spa and was completed in 1977. The building has a six-story concrete frame with a façade of ribbed concrete panels, which are designed to show some of the weathering patterns. The entrance is defined by a glazed stairwell set within which carries through to the roof. The glazing alternates across the face of the building with Black glazing across the panels. The Maurice Shock Building is linked to the Adrian Building by a bridge that runs across University Road. The building was officially opened by Sir Cyril Clarke, son of Dr Astley Clarke in 1977. In 1994, the building was named the Maurice Shock Medical Sciences Building, after Sir Maurice Shock, who was Vice Chancellor of the University from 1977 to 1987. The building is home to the to the laboratories and teaching accommodation for the Medical School within the College of Medicine, Biological Sciences and Psychology.

Completed in 1977, the Maurice Shock Building is is the largest building on campus and is home to the School of Biological sciences at the University of Leicester and is host to a variety of labs and lecture theatres, providing a unique site that amalgamates teaching and research for students and staff. The building is connected to the Adrian Building via a bridge.   

The Maurice Shock Building

From September 2016, medical students at Leicester began study at the George Davies Centre (formerly the Centre for Medicine). The centre represents a union between world-leading medical research and medical education under one roof and to produce doctors who are able to deliver high quality care in an effective and compassionate manner in the rapidly changing environment of medicine. Costing £42 million, the centre is the largest investment in medical teaching and applied research by any UK university in the last decade. It has been designed to help to meet the demand for more capable and caring doctors and also to house applied research that will be at the forefront of improved patient safety and the fight against chronic disease. The building houses staff and students from the Medical School, Department of Health Sciences and School of Psychology. Designed to minimise environmental impact, the George Davies Centre is the largest non-residential building in the UK to meet the exacting ‘Passivhaus’ standard; a charter of standards relating to energy efficiency, air quality and other environmental factors which can be applied to new buildings. The concept was invented and defined in 1988 with the first Passivhaus buildings constructed in Darmstadt two years later. None have previously attempted to meet the standard with a non-residential building on the scale of the George Davies Centre, which provides 12,836m2 of teaching facilities, offices, laboratories and support spaces for more than 2,350 staff and students (including two lecture theatres of approximately 200 and 300 seats). One of the many ways this building achieved this status is through the installation of a ‘living wall’ and green roof, which provides insulation, rainwater run-off and a fantastic environment for local wildlife. In addition, the building has 140 solar panels generating an average of 30,000 kWh of electricity every year.

Completed in 2016, the George Davies Center is a one of a kind groundbreaking feat of architecture; providing top of the range facilities for medical students and researchers at the lowest monetary and ecological running cost. Costing £42 million, it is one of the universities largest investments of the last decade.

The George Davies Center

Completed here on Lancaster Road in 1996, The concept of the Attenborough Arts centre was conceived by the late Lord Richard Attenborough. The site embodies Attenborough’s vision to include everyone in art, regardless of abilities and background. The building offers a visual and performing arts centre, with workshops and studios which hosts a variety of activities for students and members of the public.The original building was composed using load bearing brickwork, with a structural glass atrium, timber cladding and pale-grey metal window frames. Designed to create a well-lit interior space, the building was described as ‘discrete and politely modern’ when shortlisted for the 1998 Stirling Prize. The interior is awash with natural light, which creates an inspiring and contemplative atmosphere. The building was officially opened in 1997 by Diana, Princess of Wales and was named the RIBA’s ‘Building of the Year’ for the Education and Health sectors. In 2016, the centre was increased in size with a £1.5 million extension, creating the ‘New Galley Wing’ which incorporates the addition of three exhibition spaces, a creative space and an outdoor sculpture court. It was officially opened in January 2016 by Sir David Attenborough.

The Attenborough Arts Center is a very special place on the on the campus. Not known specifically as an arts university, it is a good space for for student expression beyond their subject. Furthermore, it is a good amalgamation of involvement between members of the public and university students of varying backgrounds and skill.

The Attenborough Arts center

The Henry Wellcome complex opened in 2004 to accommodate biochemistry and psychology within the College Medicine, Biological Sciences and Psychology. The building also houses the impressive Frank and Katherine May Lecture Theatre, named after two major benefactors to the university. The building is of concrete frame construction, with a façade of combination of white plastic-coated metal panels, glass and the warm sunset orange brick work. One part of the building was designed to specifically to house a powerful NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) scanner requiring an absence of metallic materials in its radius. As such, this area is constructed of fibre reinforced concrete and non- magnetic reinforced brickwork under a timber roof. The six-story building accommodates a laboratory, research and teaching facilities, as well as a café for staff and students The foyer is enhanced by several works of art. For instance, a painting by John Lancaster of the Faculty of Arts, Design and Humanities at De Montfort University. The impressive main stairwell is centred by the breath-taking ‘Atomica’ by John Sydney Carter, FRBS. The building is named after Sir Henry Wellcome, who in 1880 established the pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wellcome, who bequeathed his assets to a trust in 1936, with the intent of the money being used to research in to biomedical improvements in animal and human health. The building was officially opened in 2006 by Dr. Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust

The Henry Wellcome Center is another grand example of the university's commitment to providing a world class medical education for their students. Constructed in 2004, the site is home to some of the School of Medicine's most advanced technology, whilst also providing a welcoming atmosphere with the range of art they display in and around the building.

The Henry Wellcome Center

This monument is of specific importance to the university, since it is a symbol of the very reason the university was founded and embodies the University motto ‘Ut Vitam Habeant’ - So that they may have life. The Arch of Remembrance is a First World War memorial designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens located here on Victoria Park. The memorial is a single Portland stone arch with four legs. The legs form four arched openings, oriented north-west to south-east. The top of the structure is a large dome. The main arches are aligned so the sun shines through them at sunrise on 11 November (Armistice Day). The inside of the arch has a decorative coffered ceiling and the legs support painted stone flags which represent each of the British Armed Forces and the Merchant Navy. The arch is surrounded by decorative iron railings, supplemented by the later addition of a set of gates at the University Road entrance to the park and a pair of gates and lodges at the London Road entrance.The memorial was unveiled on 4 July 1925 by two local widows in front of a large crowd, who were commemorating the five Territorial Force units that were based in Leicester, along with the Leicestershire Regiment. The special reserve battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment was sent to man coastal defences near Hull, while all five territorial units were sent to the front. Shortly before it's unveiling, Leicester Collage was founded to act as a living monument for those who had died, life after death. The university and the arch took on an even more significant meaning after the Second World War, during which many of the students and staff were drafted to fight and die for their country.

The prize of Victoria Park beside the university, the Arch of Remembrance commemorates those who lost their lives in the First World War. It has since become a memorial to all who have lost their lives in conflicts since. It is intimately linked to the founding of the University.  

Walking Tour of the University of Leicester: Celebrating 100 Years of Student Life

The Charles Wilson Building

Introduction

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Backstory and Context

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