Development ‘stepping stone’ for city centre

John Thorp MBE, who has been behind major Leeds schemes, including the £12m creation of Millennium Square, said the Sovereign Street scheme aimed to create a “stepping stone” between City Square and the proposed South Bank development.

The creation of a park at the heart of the project would break away from the squares and piazzas that have formed part of recent urban developments.

Leeds City Council has drawn up a planning blueprint to create a park and office buildings on the land, behind Leeds City Station, which was to be the site of the axed “kissing towers” high-rise development in 2008.

People have until tomorrow to comment on the council’s draft planning statement, which sets out its aspirations for the area and will help guide all future development on the site.

It is hoped that the design can help bring together different areas of the city centre, by creating new paths linking the office and retail quarters to the north with the riverside area and beyond to the South Bank, Clarence Dock and Holbeck Urban Village.

Mr Thorp hopes to overcome the “physical and visual barrier” created by the railway line.

“We are working with a substantial L-shaped space which has six to eight connections into a network of existing movements,” he said.

The formal name of the development, which is currently known as the Sovereign Street scheme, is still to be decided but it is hoped that it will complement other areas in the city.

“The critical thing we have agreed to do is give the space a safe and green emphasis, which will complement spaces like Park Square,” said Mr Thorp.

“It would be a space to stop and sit and enjoy a safe landscape and also bring activity to a location that has been a car park for many years,” he said.

“The common expectation has been that urban space would create piazzas and squares but we have the opportunity to do something different.”

The area, which has been a brownfield site since the demolition of the Queen’s Hall in 1989, would also feature three buildings, with the potential for a multi-storey car park to be incorporated into one of them.

Accountancy firm KPMG has agreed a nine-month exclusivity period with Leeds City Council to explore options for building its new city headquarters on the site.

Iain Moffatt, KPMG’s Leeds office senior partner, said: “An architect has been appointed and has started to come up with some outline ideas which all look exciting and promising. We are looking to build something up to 65,000 sq ft that will fit with other buildings around the site.”

Mr Thorp said that creating a trio of buildings on one site would help to liven up the space, as it had the recently developed Granary Wharf scheme.

The project, which would be paid for through a combination of council funding and contributions from developers, needs an occupier to sign up to the scheme before work can begin.

“There is a possibility to progress in a phased way – we don’t have to wait for all the buildings to be there to begin,” said Mr Thorp.

“I am excited by the possibility of doing something really special on the site, and the fact that KPMG should be interested in this is a really important and confident step.”

Mr Thorp has worked at Leeds City Council for more than 35 years on projects including City Square and Briggate. He said the city’s approach to development was different to other UK cities.

“Most activity in Leeds is urban dentistry,” he said. “We repair and fill and create high-quality places by working with the city and all the people engaged in it.

“It’s the city-wide approach to long-term sustainable development that makes Leeds unique.”

The Sovereign Street proposals document can be viewed at www.leeds.gov.uk by searching for Sovereign Street.

The vision for Sovereign Street

Sovereign Street has been a temporary council-owned car park since the Queens Hall was demolished in 1989.

Plans for a public park were developed after the 2008 Leeds City Centre Vision Conference identified a need for green space by the River Aire.

In February 2009, councillors agreed to fund a £50,000 feasibility study. It is hoped cash from private developers would pay for any park.

People have until tomorrow to comment on the new proposals. A final version of the planning statement will then be produced to be used as guidance for future development at that site.