The nearly-complete scheme, which welcomed its first students last month, features a roughly 3,000m\u00b2 three-storey new-build extension on a former car park, together with a remodelling of the school\u2019s existing accommodation.<\/p>\n
Work continues on the revamp of the linked Leverhulme Building, designed by Charles Reilly in the 1930s and overhauled in the 1980s by King and McAllister, and the neighbouring Georgian residential terrace.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donnell + Tuomey\u2019s proposal was unanimously chosen<\/a> for the project in 2019 following a two-stage selection process involving undergraduates, postgraduates, staff from the school and the estates department<\/a>. The judging panel was chaired by architecture critic Kenneth Frampton and included Tate director Maria Balshaw and the late architect Michael Wilford.<\/p>\n The Irish practice was chosen from an invited longlist of 18, which was trimmed down to six for the final judging day. The other practices vying for the job included 6a architects, Eric Parry Architects, Carmody Groarke, Haworth Tompkins and fellow Dubliners Grafton Architects.<\/p>\n Marco Iuliano, who teaches at the architecture school and who devised and directed the original competition, described the building\u2019s opening as a \u2018major milestone\u2019.<\/p>\n He told the AJ: \u2018There are so many forces at play in architecture today \u2013 standardisation, procurement, financial pressures. But the university has been steady throughout and O\u2019Donnell + Tuomey has been generous and resilient in creating something of exceptional architectural quality, which was the ambition of the competition.<\/p>\n \u2018What\u2019s more significant is that students and staff have been part of this journey and decision-making process from the very start. The educational side has been a crucial component of the entire challenge. It has been a constant workshop, and I can\u2019t think of anything comparable anywhere in architectural education.\u2019<\/p>\n The extension incorporates overlapping studios, exhibition and teaching space, offices and a caf\u00e9. It was approved by Liverpool City Council in 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n