Southerns Delivers Flagship Laidlaw Library

Published: August 30, 2015

Leading interiors specialist, Southerns, have been working with The University of Leeds in order to provide a state-of-the art library facility located at the front of university campus. 

Southerns were presented with the brief of delivering an iconic and highly functional building in order to further facilitate undergraduates’ learning and comfort. The University of Leeds invested £25m in the project, appointing Southerns with the task of creating a modern, flexible study space to expand the university’s current provision by almost 1000 seats.

With a wealth of experience in the industry, Southerns met the brief with professionalism and competence, using a basis of excellent supplier relations and high attention to detail in order to deliver on every level.  Extensive research was undertaken in order understand every aspect of the client base, and a stage-by-stage ten-week install was carried out. In order to accommodate for the complex power and connectivity requirements, careful planning and regular contact between all parts of the workforce was sustained throughout the process. Remaining available for on and offsite consultation throughout, Southerns was able to maintain the goal of a bold and impressive building to suit all areas of student needs.

Tim Worne, Managing Direct at Southerns, said: “working on the Laidlaw Library was both a challenging and exciting project for our team. In keeping with our values of innovation and trust, we’ve managed to use our solid supplier relationships to provide what is now an iconic part of an historic higher education institution. I’m thrilled at our success in delivering in a sector as crucial as higher education, and look forward to future expansion of our services and experience across the board.”

The Laidlaw Library opened in July and is already a prominent accolade to the university campus. The project adds to Southerns’ previous work on projects in retail, health and corporate settings, demonstrating its unique expertise in providing end-to-end Fixtures, Fittings and Equipment. Across a diverse range of sectors, Southerns continues to deliver big.