A combination of building restoration and new developments has turned the Round Foundry area of Leeds into a thriving contemporary quarter with a strong historic character. Designed by BDP.
Holbeck Urban Village (HUV) covers an area of approximately 20 hectares separated from the city centre by a series of railway lines. The area is currently the subject of a major regeneration programme that is expected to attract investment of up to £800 million and create approximately 5,000 jobs over the next ten years. The designated mixed-use area incorporates a six hectare Conservation Area and abuts a residential neighbourhood that has traditionally suffered from low quality of life levels and poor access to the city centre.
Within HUV, on the site of the first engineering works that kick-started the industrial revolution, the Round Foundry is a 1.5ha mixed use development that points the way for subsequent improvements within Holbeck. The four-acre complex includes 94 residential apartments, 52,000 sq ft office space, plus shops, bars and restaurants, all of which have been sympathetically designed around a series of courtyards. The development has also become home to a contemporary art gallery and a new media centre, which have become a hub for creative media and internet businesses within Holbeck.
Developer CTP St. James commissioned Building Design Partnership (BDP) to design the scheme in 1999 and the architects ensured that a number of listed buildings within the site were sensitively restored and that new buildings complemented the historic structures. Construction work began in 2001 and was completed in 2004.
The Round Foundry in Leeds forms part of a wider scheme for Holbeck Urban Village, which involves the regeneration of one of the country’s oldest industrial areas and an expansion to Leeds city centre through the incorporation of a traditionally disconnected area of the city.
