News / 14 Jul 2025
Fine Art graduate creates mural for city centre offices
BA (Hons) Fine Art
We Are Spaces, a chartered building company who specialise in commercial interior design and fit out, commissioned recent BA (Hons) Fine Art graduate Adina Wykes to create a mural for the outside of a newly refurbished office building, 6 East Parade, in the centre of Leeds.
The brief, set by We Are Spaces and our Careers, Enterprise and Employability team, asked students to submit a vibrant and modern design that could be painted directly onto a 10m by 4m wall.
Adina’s design embodies the vibrant energy of Leeds and We Are Spaces, seamlessly integrating iconic architectural elements with bold, abstract forms to create a visually striking and modern composition.
“Winning this commission has meant the absolute world to me at this stage in my career. I feel as though this opportunity has helped me to leap forward in my field and will hopefully propel me into completing more murals of this scale. I will forever be grateful for We Are Spaces, who gave me so much support and really made me feel looked after throughout the whole journey.”
Adina Wykes, BA (Hons) Fine Art graduate
Drawing inspiration from contemporary street art aesthetics, the design balances structure and fluidity, using expressive shapes and a dynamic colour palette to make a lasting impact on the surrounding urban landscape. Adina worked on every stage of the mural, creating the design, taking her IPAF certification to become a licensed scissor lift operator, jet washing the wall and installing the mural, larger than originally anticipated at an enormous 7.5 by 14.25 metres!
“Adina has been such a pleasure to work with although the space was much bigger than anticipated she was not daunted and reproduced the design onto the wall with great skill and vision. She went out of her way to work within the rules of a building site and was very proactive in obtaining a permit to use the mobile access platform herself thus saving us some additional expense. Our client is so pleased with the end result and so are we, it worked out better than we could have imagined.”
Ian Dennis, Head of Commercial at We Are Spaces
“After the long days of installation, standing back and seeing it completed, I felt nothing but pure joy. After spending days with my face inches from the wall, getting to take in the bigger picture was truly astounding. It’s so easy to get lost in the work when you spend so much time up close, it almost becomes abstract. Seeing everything as one made me feel rather proud of myself and I’m not ashamed to admit that I did shed a little tear.”
Adina Wykes, BA (Hons) Fine Art graduate