CASPAR Apartments Leeds
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With its CASPAR city-centre apartments in Leeds, Levitt Bernstein has attempted to bring young people into to the city centre with a simple, inexpensive modular construction
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City-centre apartments in Leeds, located on a busy ring-road using inexpensive modular construction
CASPAR II (City-Centre Apartments for Single People at Affordable Rents) is the second project by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) to provide affordable housing for young singles and couples working in Leeds city centre.
The difficult sloping site for this residential development has led to a semi-circular building located on what is essentially a traffic island, surrounded by busy roads, including the city's inner ring road. The scheme turns its back on the traffic, and focuses inward on a pleasant south facing courtyard overlooked by balconies.
The designers have employed construction methods, including factory made service modules (bathroom, kitchen, hallways, study/dining area), prefabricated living rooms and bedrooms assembled on site, and stairs, walkways and balconies independent of the main timber structure, to create a landmark building.
Data
- Begun: Sep 1999
- Completed: May 2000
- Floor area: 2,455m2
- Sector: Residential
- Total cost: £2.4M
- Procurement: Design and build/partnering
- Address: CASPAR Apartments, North Street, Leeds, LS7 2AA, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Levitt Bernstein
- Project architects: Abigail Bachelor, Anna Murphy, David Levitt, Mark Lewis
- Client: The Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- Cost consultant: Robert Lombardelli Partnership
- Services engineer: Max Fordham and Partners
- Main contractor: Kajima UK Engineering
- Structural engineer: Conisbee
Suppliers
- Timber modules and frame: Volumetric