LEEDS ∞ issue 1
INFINITY
Loidis, from which Leeds derives its name, was anciently a forested area of the Celtic kingdom of Elmet. The settlement certainly existed at the time of the Norman conquest of England and in 1086 was a thriving manor under the overlordsip of Ilbert de Lacy. It gained its first charter from Maurice de Gant in 1207 yet grew but slowly throughout the medieval and Tudor periods. The town had become part of the Duchy of Lancaster and reverted to the crown in the medieval period, so was a Royalist stronghold at the start of the English Civil War. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Leeds prospered and expanded as a centre of the woollen industry and it continued to expand rapidly in the Industrial Revolution. Following a period of post industrial decline in the mid twentieth century Leeds’ prosperity revived with the development of tertiary industrial sectors. By the 20th century this social and economic had started to change with the creation of the academic institutions that are known today as the University of Leeds and Leeds Metropolitan University. This period had also witnessed expansion in medical provision, particularly Leeds General Infirmary and St James’s Hospital. Following World War II there has been, as in many other cities, a decline in secondary industries that thrived in the 19th century. However this decline was reversed in the growth of new tertiary industries such as retail, call centres, offices and media. Today Leeds is known as one of eight core cities that act as a focus of their respective regions and Leeds is generally regarded as the dominant city of the ceremonial county of West Yorkshire.
LS images © 2010 by Tom Zlotkowski textual content source: http://en.wikipedia.org
∞
ARCHITECTURE
the
Light
The Light is a leisure and retail centre in central Leeds, England. It is located along The Headrow. The building was constructed in 1930–31 as Permanent House, the headquarters of the Leeds Permanent Building Society; the society moved to new premises in at Lovell Park in the 1990s.[when?] The legacy of the building’s original use is still evident in the architecture, and the Browns restaurant at The Light uses the former banking hall. Following a period in the 1990s when Permanent House was used as offices for Leeds City Council, the site was redeveloped, and this involved a demolition that involved the 61-metres-tall Leeds Permanent tower and other annexes which were constructed in the 1960s. The Light opened in 2001 and it has a retail area of 32,515 square metres and targets a high spender customer base. It contains Leeds’ only city-centre cinema, a 13-screen multiplex cinema operated by Vue (formerly Ster Century). Also within The Light there are a number of restaurants such as Nandos and Cafe Rouge, designer shops including Benetton and Ark, an Esporta health club, a Radisson Blu 4-star hotel and an NHS drop in centre. The Light also has a multi-storey car park. The Light has also hosted a number of special events, such as “City Beach”,”Meet the stylist” its annual “Night of Indulgence” in December. The Elite Club is The Light’s free loyalty scheme which offers member discounts and offers throughout the centre. This has been running since The Light opened and has proved to be popular, with many shops and restaurants regularly offering special deals. The Light has its own magazine “Light Style” which is produced three times a year. It gives customers information about what’s happening in the centre as well as having information on fashion dining and competitions. The Light has been developed in such a way that shows the original building in most parts, so much that the building’s facia along The Headrow has hardly changed since the original structure was opened in 1931. The redevelopment of ‘The Light involved the incorporation of Fountain Street into the development. Since opening the tenants in the centre have remained fairly consistent.
Railway viaduct arches on Heaton’s Court street
Corn exchange
Designed by Cuthbert Brodrick, a young Hull architect best known for Leeds Town Hall, this Grade I listed structure was completed in 1864. Leeds Corn Exchange is now just one of three Corn Exchanges in the country which still operates in its traditional capacity as a centre for trade, albeit no longer for trading in corn. After the closure of the Corn Exchange, its condition deteriorated to such a degree that the building itself and the surrounding land became one of Leeds’ most run down areas. Early proposals for the regeneration for this site had included turning the Corn Exchange into a concert hall similar to the Royal Albert Hall. In 1985, Speciality Shops plc won the contract to re-develop the building as a shopping centre. The refurbishment process designed by Alsop & Lyall was completely restored to its current state, with new staircases to allow shoppers access to the balcony and basement levels. It opened for trade in 1990. Many other old buildings have been restored in this area, now known as The Exchange Quarter. As well as housing shops such as Ark Clothing, On the wall (poster/photograph) which is now in a new site on Boar Lane, Culture Vulture now situated on Duncan Street and Eva (jewellery), the Leeds Corn Exchange also hosted exhibitions, events such as strut (fashion show) and music events. Most of the shops sold alternate merchandise such as band items like badges, clothes, and studded belts, and the Exchange became a well-known congregation point for alternative people.
Terraced houses on Norman view street are remains of Leeds XIX century industrial past.
the
Queens
Queens Hotel is a hotel owned by Quintessential Hotels, located on Leeds City Square in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is an elegant Art Deco Grade II listed building. It was constructed in 1937 by architects W.Curtis Green and W.H. Hamlyn for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). It is a four star hotel and it has a total of 217 rooms. It was acquired in 2003 by Quintissential Hotels who gave it a ÂŁ10 million makeover. Previous owners other than LMS and Quintissential Hotels have included the publicly owned British Transport Hotels between 1948 and the early 1980s and latterly the Forte Group hotel and catering company.
Back of the building on Little King Street
Bridgewater place Bridgewater Place, nicknamed The Dalek, is an office and residential skyscraper development in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is the tall est building in Yorkshire, and has held this record since being topped out in September 2005. It is visible at up to 25 miles (40 km) from certain areas. The development has been designed by Aedas Architects with the developer being Landmark Development Projects and St James Securities with Bovis Lend Lease being the contractor.The developer of the residential element of Bridgewater Place is KW Linfoot. It was first announced in 2000 and, following several redesigns and delays with the construction process, construction of the building began in 2004 and was completed in 2007. It became the tallest building in Leeds, by a significant margin, and Yorkshire (although this does not take into account structures such as Emley Moor). Bridgewater Place has a height of 110 metres (360 ft) to roof level. Originally the tower was to have had a spire which would have extended the height of the building to 137 metres (449 ft), however this was never built. Bridgewater Place has 32 storeys, of which two are used for car parking, ten for offices and twenty for residential purposes. There is 40,000 square metres / 430,560 square feet of floor space in the building with 200 flats and 400 underground car parking spaces serving both the residential and commercial areas of the building. The major part of the building’s construction was completed by late December 2006.The completion of the entire building was commemorated on Thursday 26 April 2007. A special episode of Look North, the BBC’s local regional news programme was produced to commemorate the opening of the tower. The tower is illuminated at night with bright coloured lighting effects, colours used so far, include blue and purple. The building’s shape appears to be accelerating winds in its immediate vicinity to the extent that pedestrians have experienced severe difficulties walking past.
Narrow passage off the Lands lane