An architect's vision for towns and cities on both sides of the Pennines

Our March 3 meeting will take the form of a lecture by the influential architect Alex Whitbread at the University of Huddersfield's Charles Sikes Building.

Alex, above, is a Partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, a national architectural and urban design practice which has considerable experience in designing for education, housing, masterplanning and urban design as well as places for art and the creative reuse of historic buildings. 

In Leeds, his hometown, he led the design for the award-winning Broadcasting Place (the ‘Rusty Building’) for Downing / Leeds Beckett University and the recently completed St Alban’s Place VITA building for Select Property Group. 

He led the masterplan design for the Wellington Place site and is working on the wider masterplan for the Temple Quarter in Holbeck for Commercial Estates Group (CEG). In Manchester Alex is working on the city’s largest speculative development at Circle Square on the site of the former BBC HQ on Oxford Road.

In addition to the masterplan for the site, he has led the design for the first phase workplace buildings, a new public space with leisure pavilions and a car park/hotel building, all of which are on site. 

Prior to this, Alex was involved working with Salford on the Greengate regeneration framework which is undergoing major development. In Trafford, he is working on joint ventures between developer Bruntwood and Trafford Council.

In this Civic Society/University of Huddersfield annual lecture, he will look at opportunities and challenges across towns and cities on both sides of the Pennines, including the use of more sustainable design principles in future work. 

FCBStudios are part of the steering group that launched ‘Architects Declare’ and are at the forefront of defining and implementing the rapid and unprecedented changes needed.  By 2025, all their projects completed on-site will include zero carbon plans with operational performance targets for 2030.

We hope you will be able to join us for what promises to be a stimulating evening.

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