Bam Construct has completed construction of the £60m Leeds Arena on time and budget

Bam Construct has completed construction of the £60m Leeds Arena on time and budget, with the project now handed over to operators SMG for fit-out.

Positioned in the heart of the city, the Populous-designed venue will have a capacity of 13,500 people. Designed to maximise the quality of live music performances, its fan-shaped interior will optimise sight lines to focus every seat at centre stage and bring the public closer to the show.

The multi-purpose facility has been designed so that the space can be easily modified to meet the changing requirements of a diverse event schedule, which could also include theatre and sports.

Now that the main construction works have finished and handover has taken place, SMG will manage the task of equipping Leeds Arena with bars, restaurants, staff and ticketing offices and star facilities - preparing the arena to welcome visitors in July 2013.

Leeds City Council leader Councillor Keith Wakefield said: “We want Leeds to be the best city in the UK and delivering this hugely-imaginative and highly-ambitious project on time and on budget in an incredibly-challenging economy demonstrates without doubt that we mean business.”

Davis Langdon was project manager and quantity surveyor on the job and Arup was the engineer.

Leeds Arena will welcome its first visitors on 24th July 2013, when Bruce Springsteen will headline an exclusive event.

The venue will officially open in September 2013.

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