Lecture Series: Ellis William Architects, speakers Mushtaq Saleri and Jade Meeks

Outside a brick auditorium at night, there is traffic on the road. Illuminated text reads Yoko Ono Lennon Centre, Home of the Tung Auditorium.

The Yoko Ono Lennon Centre

Wednesday 28th February 2024, 1pm Reilly Room

Click here to watch a recording of the lecture

Please note, this talk will be recorded

Designed by Liverpool School of Architecture graduates Jade Meeks (MArch 2015) and Mushtaq Saleri (BArch 1998 & former LSA lecturer/tutor), The University of Liverpool’s new Yoko Ono Lennon Centre houses the 400-seat Tung Auditorium with space for a 70-piece orchestra, as well as two state-of-the-art Lecture Theatres, offering students a world-class teaching experience. The building forms a key gateway to the University campus with a ‘pocket park’ and new public realm.
 
The YOLC was completed in 2022 and in a short space of time the Tung Auditorium has already received the highest acclaim from performers and audiences for it’s visual and acoustic design. Jade and Mushtaq will explain the design and delivery process behind the award-winning building, including the challenges and innovations along the way.

Biographies

Ellis Williams Architects
 
Ellis Williams is a multi-award winning practice ranked in the top 100 members of the AJ100 (The Architects’ Journal) listing the UKs largest, most successful and innovative architecture practices in the UK.
 
Our work has taken us to some extraordinary places and positioned us in front of an international audience over the last half century. We enhance the built environment and user experience by putting places, people and the planet at the centre of everything we do.
 
Our tailored design process and collaborative approach allows us to create sustainable, innovative and responsive buildings that can adapt as future user’s needs evolve.
 
Jade Meeks
 
After graduating from the University of Liverpool in 2015, Jade joined Ellis Williams’ newly opened Liverpool studio. Whilst working towards becoming a registered Architect, Jade worked on various arts, education, residential and conservation schemes and is an advocate for collaborative stakeholder engagement and concept driven design.
 
Since qualifying, Jade has taken a leading role in the design and delivery of the Yoko Ono Lennon Centre, a specialist performing arts and higher education building for the University of Liverpool which was completed in 2021. She has also been part of the team designing and delivering the Maritime Knowledge Hub – a major redevelopment of a Grade II Listed hydraulic tower in Birkenhead to create an innovative new hub for maritime education, research and development, skills, innovation and commercial centre as part of the wider Wirral Waters development.
 
Jade is also a Guest Critic at the University of Liverpool and was invited to be part of the panel during the University’s ‘Celebrating Decades of Women from the Liverpool School of Architecture’ event which celebrated the achievements of female graduates of LSA over several decades.
 
Mushtaq Saleri
 
Prior to joining Ellis Williams in 2015, Mushtaq was the Director of Studio Three Architects and responsible for a number of RIBA award-winning schemes including Rossall Point Observatory and Chavasse Park Pavilion. He also taught at the University of Liverpool School of Architecture for over 15 years, teaching across all five year groups (BA and MArch courses).
 
Mushtaq is now a Senior Associate in our Liverpool studio and has worked on a number of award-winning schemes across Merseyside, the North West and the UK.
 
His interest in conservation has meant that he has worked on a wide variety of Listed and heritage buildings across the UK, including the major redevelopment of a Grade II Listed hydraulic tower in Birkenhead to create an innovative new Maritime Knowledge Hub as part of the wider Wirral Waters development.
 
Mushtaq is a current member of the Places Matter Design Review Panel, as well as previously holding the positions of President of the LAS (Merseyside Branch of the RIBA), Chair of the RIBA NW Education Committee and past member of the Chester Cathedral Fabric Advisory Committee.
 
Photo Credit Mark McNulty