125th anniversary for historic Ramsden Building in Huddersfield

Jul 6 2009 By Neil Atkinson

A BUILDING that has been at the heart of education in Huddersfield for more than a century faces a bright future, literally.

Thanks to an ambitious programme of restoration and refurbishment, the Ramsden Building is gleaming like a new pin.

But although the building – now part of the University of Huddersfield – has been newly-equipped to meet the needs of modern students and teachers, it retains its past glories.

Members of the public will discover this when the University throws open the doors of the Ramsden Building during a week of celebrations.

The events mark both the 125th anniversary of the building first being used by students and the completion of the first and biggest phase of improvement work.

On Thursday there will be an opening ceremony for the upgraded building, which will be open to the public between 9am and 11am.

Later, between 2.15 and 4pm, there will be a public lecture by Martyn Walker and Brian Haigh, historians who have researched the fascinating origins of the Ramsden Building, its architect Edward Hughes and the story of technical education in Huddersfield.

As part of the celebrations the University will welcome guests including The 9th Baronet of Ramsden, Sir John Ramsden and the Duke of Somerset.

Over the past year, approximately £1.5m has been spent on a scheme to upgrade many of the facilities, including teaching rooms, in the Ramsden Building.

Because it is a listed building, contractors and conservationists held talks to ensure that important external details were preserved.

And designers for the company that carried out the work – the Huddersfield office of giant global architectural practice Aedas – devised interior colour schemes that reflected the building’s original Victorian styling.

The Ramsden Building has remained in full use during the refurbishment work, and this has been one of the main challenges facing contractors. Still to be completed is a final phase – costing approximately £180,000 _ which will include the upgrading of the podiatry clinic, the physiotherapy area and more of the teaching rooms.