Arup celebrates 25 years in Leeds

The office started with less than 25 employees in small premises in The Calls in 1989.

It has now expanded to more than 250 in riverside converted mill Rose Wharf, one of the firm’s own engineering conversions.

The firm has been a major player in the city region and involved in many schemes over years, including Leeds Metropolitan University’s Rose Bowl and Headingley Carnegie, the music and art installation in Neville Street, and more recently the HS2 masterplan for Leeds, Sovereign Square and the award-winning First Direct Arena.

It has also worked with Yorkshire Water on core infrastructure projects and with Leeds City Council on the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme.

To mark the anniversary, the firm is holding a celebratory evening tonight at The Tetley Gallery, which the firm’s structural engineers helped to transform back to its former Art Deco glory.

Jim Johnson, leader of the office, told The Yorkshire Post: “We are immensely proud to be celebrating our silver anniversary and of the numerous outstanding projects which we have been involved in across the city and the Yorkshire region as a whole.

“Our staff, clients and collaborators have been pivotal to our success and we wouldn’t be where we are today without the support of the city.

“We are excited about what the next 25 years might hold.”

Arup said its employee-ownership structure has given staff the freedom to invest in the local community and work with organisations like the Ahead Partnership and the universities to share knowledge, experience and skills.

Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, an Anglo-Danish engineer founded the firm in London in 1946.

It first came to the world’s attention with the structural design of the Sydney Opera House, followed by its work on the Centre Pompidou in Paris.