Topping out ceremony for new Emily Siddon Building
The development of the University of Huddersfield’s National Health Innovation Campus (NHIC) has reached a significant stage with a topping out ceremony for the Emily Siddon Building.
It is the second NHIC building and is adjacent to the Daphne Steele Building, which opened in September 2024 on Southgate in Huddersfield town centre close to the university’s main campus.
The building is named after the healthcare advocate and governor of Huddersfield Technical College, a forerunner of the University, who spent the majority of her life in nearby Honley.
The 6,800m² facility, expected to open in December 2025, will host new purpose-built diagnostic facilities including MRI and CT scanners. A Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC), the first on a UK university campus, will open in partnership with Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT) to provide access to thousands of additional diagnostic tests for the people of Calderdale and Huddersfield, including MRI and CT scans.
Other floors of the building, designed by architects AHR, will contain specialist clinical teaching facilities which will also be delivered in partnership with the Trust, including new course areas relating to the work of the CDC, such as Diagnostic Radiography. Work with other partners will allow for further developments, including the Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy BSc which will begin September 2025.
The Emily Siddon Building will also be home to a Health and Wellbeing Innovation Centre for local entrepreneurs or start-ups and organisations looking to benefit from locating with the University on the campus. The Centre is supported by the West Yorkshire Mayor and Combined Authority through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. It will be operated by the award-winning team responsible for the University’s 3M Buckley Innovation Centre.
Guests at the bolt-tightening ceremony, marking the completion of the highest point on the new building, included University of Huddersfield Vice-Chancellor Professor Bob Cryan CBE, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Tim Thornton, Professor Mark Radford CBE, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for NHS England, Huddersfield MP Harpreet Uppal, Catherine Riley, Associate Director of Strategy for CHFT and Daniel Doherty, Regional Director of Kier Construction. Rob Hopkins, Director of architects AHR and Russell Green, Project Manager of construction consultants Gleeds, were also present.
“It will be very exciting to see this building evolve over the next few months, with the promise that we will soon see and use a facility that is going to add so much to the University, but will also help to make a real difference to health outcomes in the local community as well,” said Professor Cryan.
“The new Community Diagnostic Centre will bring diagnostic services closer to our communities, making sure people have timely access for tests such as X-Rays, CT scans and MRIs all in a convenient location. Being in the centre of Huddersfield means that we can give greater choice to our patients and increase the number of tests we carry out and means that some people don’t even need to come to hospital at all.
“We’re already seeing fantastic outcomes for our patients at our CDC in Halifax which completes around 1,500 tests a week and has received wonderful feedback,” said Catherine Riley.
With 280m² of photovoltaic panels, the building has been designed to meet BREEAM ‘Excellent’ standards, ensuring the facility is environmentally sustainable. Additionally, the design aims to achieve the same WELL Platinum certification as the University's Jo Cox More In Common Centre for its design and operational strategies focusing on human health and well-being.
Five more buildings are planned for the seven-acre site.
Emily Siddon
A leading healthcare advocate who spent most of her life in nearby Honley, Emily Siddon strove to improve healthcare and equality in several prestigious roles, often reserved for men.
An advocate for improving children’s health, Emily was also involved in the creation of children’s homes with better conditions than the workhouse.
Emily’s many influential roles included being one of the first women to be a Poor Law Guardian in 1883, at a time when the role was vital in provided health and welfare support to disadvantages communities. She went on to be Vice Chair of the local Board of Guardians in 1903 and its Chair in 1913. As a highly respected member community,
Emily was heavily involved in driving healthcare and equality developments in the Huddersfield area, including being a member of the Huddersfield Female Educational Institute from 1868 and a governor of Huddersfield Technical College from 1907 – both organisations being forerunners of the current University - until her death in 1923. Late in her life she had become only the second woman in the country to be made a Justice of the Peace and had a particular focus on mental health and learning disabilities.
Huddersfield Technical College was recognised by the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain’s list of approved institutions during Emily’s time as governor, and it also pioneered equal pay and pensions. Emily was also appointed as the only female member of the main executive committee at the Huddersfield Infirmary from the late 19th century into the 20th century.
A passionate supporter of the campaign for women to have the right to vote, Emily was Vice-President of the Council of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies from 1907.