NORTH West architectural practice Cassidy and Ashton has been contracted to deliver two projects at the University of Liverpool’s Sydney Jones Library.

The firm will design a Muslim prayer room and a postgraduate and academic study area at the complex in the university’s South Campus, in Oxford Street.

The first project will see a currently vacant 320 sq m area of the library transformed into a prayer room, with separate male and female sections, storage room and a washing facility.

Cassidy and Ashton will also draw up plans to convert the Senate Drum building – where the university senate previously met – into a quiet reading and study area for postgraduate students and academics.

The 1,000 sq m building will be open plan and will feature curtained walls and a single entrance to minimise noise.

Director at Cassidy and Ashton, David Owen, said: “We are delighted to be continuing our working relationship with the University of Liverpool, for whom we have previously designed the Equine Hospital, Confucius Centre and refurbishment of the Harold Cohen Library.”