One of the ARCLIB Liverpool conference highlights was the visit to the Liverpool School of Architecture extension. The official ceremony of opening the extension took place in March 2026. We visited the space and it was fabulous: spacious, full of natural light, and with great potential for model presentations and exhibitions.

The project represents an important milestone in the history of the Liverpool School of Architecture, which was first founded in 1894. The new space provides students with cutting edge teaching and research facilities, including virtual reality and digital design suites, collaborative workspaces and a dedicated exhibition area designed to showcase student work.

Designed by Irish-based architects O’Donnell + Tuomey, the extension has been integrated with the School’s historic building, creating modern teaching and collaboration spaces. The build was carried out by the University of Liverpool Construction Company (ULCCO).

The extension marks an exciting new chapter for the School, creating inspiring spaces that will support creativity, collaboration and innovation for years to come.

The initial aim of the project was to create a new building that was respectful of tradition, yet ambitious enough to anticipate future directions in architecture and its teaching: an innovative vision for the School, where James Stirling and other renowned architects studied, with the potential to form the centre of a campus-wide University Masterplan strategy developed in association with the Estates Department. Based on this knowledge and on the opinion of the members of the School, the aim was achieved, indeed it exceeded expectations.

I loved the space and would describe it as inspiring, spacious, innovative and visionary. I only wish we had a similar extension in our School, as we are somewhat short of exhibition space. Please see the photos above and below.

Thank you very much, Clair and John, for organising such a wonderful ARCLIB conference. The topics we covered provided an excellent basis for discussion, planning inductions, and generating ideas for the next academic year! Thank you, Clair, for providing me with the additional info about the School extension.

Tatiana Zhimbiev, Cambridge University