Towering task as block gets ready for a new lease of life

The University of Sheffield has embarked on a major refurbishment of its Grade II listed Arts Tower, which proves that not all 1960s buildings can be dismissed as eyesores that are ripe for demolition.

The university hopes to extend the block's life for another 30 years. It has given Sheffield-based HLM Architects the job of bringing it up to 21st-century environmental standards.

The 22-storey tower block provides accommodation for 2,500 students and 300 staff.

It accommodates several university arts subject departments. with teaching, ancillary offices and tutorial rooms.

Nick Beecroft, director of HLM, said : "We worked closely with English Heritage and the local area and conservation planners to develop options that would be appropriate to the building's listed status."

BAM Construction is the contractor for the first phase.

The Arts Tower was built in 1964. During the summer of 1965, 18 departments and 160 staff moved in.

The building was officially opened by the Queen Mother in June 1966. She called it the "tower of light and learning". It gained a Grade ll Listing in 1993 and is the tallest university building in the UK.

It is the only building in the UK to still have a working "paternoster" a set of continually vertically moving open-fronted elevator cars.

The project is being undertaken in several phases. The first phase, which began in June 2009 and will complete this September, includes

the complete replacement of the main listed faade of the tower as well as internal refurbishment of the upper 11 floors.