Attenborough Building

The Attenborough Building is the tallest building on the campus of the University of Leicester, and houses arts and humanities departments.

The building comprises three distinct elements: an 18-storey towerblock containing 270 offices and tutorial rooms; a low-rise building, known within the University as the Attenborough Seminar Block, containing seminar rooms and computing facilities; and an underground area housing two large lecture theatres and the University Film Theatre.

It was designed by Arup Associates and constructed 1968–70 with Ove Arup as the chief engineers. The university's development plan at the time called for two other similar towers, but these were never built.

The building was named after Frederick Attenborough, who was principal of the then University College 1931–1951, and father of Richard and David Attenborough. At the time of the opening ceremony, Frederick was old and frail, so the building was opened on his behalf by his youngest son John. Until the renovations of 2005, a portrait of Frederick hung in the foyer.

The tower reaches a height of 52 metres, making it one of the tallest buildings in the city. It is constructed with a concrete frame, cast in-situ, and clad with pre-cast concrete panels. The slanting aluminium-framed windows protrude outwards at the bottom to aid draught-free ventilation throughout the year. Each floor consists of three leaves of space containing the offices. These are separated by the central lobby and...
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