Jobs hope in office development plans for historic printing works

The Alf Cooke printworks in Hunslet Road, Leeds, which is Grade II listed, is currently vacant and councillors will be told that bringing the historic works back to life would lead to the creation of new jobs in the city centre.

The Rushbond Group want to refurbish and partially demolish the works and turn the premises into offices, building 12 office units in eight three-storey blocks with a cafe/restaurant, car parking and public space.

It is also applying for listed building consent to carry out the changes.

A report to Leeds City Council's city centre plans panel says: "This application is brought to panel as it is a significant major application involving the conversion and partial demolition of a Grade II listed building."

Officers are recommending that councillors back the plans when members of the plans panel meet on Thursday and give officers the power to grant approval subject to a number of conditions being met.

The report adds: "Alf Cooke's Printworks is a very important building in terms of local identity, distinctiveness and legibility. It is one of Leeds best known buildings of the past, and this scheme would enable public access and appreciation alongside new buildings and public realm.

"It is therefore considered that the proposed new buildings and public realm would enhance and complement the setting of the listed building and the surrounding area."

Discussions about the application have been going on for some time and members will be told that buildings of merit, capable of viable conversion, will be retained, with the remainder of the site demolished in phases.

The main print hall building is listed due to its special architectural interest and would be retained and converted into offices, with its open atria and balconies restored. The mill building would also be retained and refurbished as office accommodation.

English Heritage have no comment to make about the proposal while Leeds Civic Trust supports the principles of development but has raised a number of points including concerns the new brick buildings were "austere and flat" and need to be finished to a high standard.

In response the scheme has been revised to include a variety of brickwork and detailing.

In conclusion the report recommends that the plans are backed.

It says: "It is considered that the submitted listed building consent and full planning applications would result in the re-use of a brownfield site, the provision of new employment in the City Centre, the concentration of a major town centre use in a sustainable location, the sensitive re-use of a listed building and the provision of new public open space.

"It is therefore considered that the proposal would contribute positively to the enhancement and regeneration of the surrounding area."

Alf Cooke, the founder of the firm was born in 1842, the son of a printer and stationer in Dewsbury Road.

He launched the business in 1866 when he was 24. His first "factory" was a rented shop and house in Hunslet Road selling stationery and newspapers and undertaking letterpress printing.

Early in the 1870s he bought premises on the east side of Hunslet Road, near Crown Point Bridge, to expand his printing operations.

It burned down in 1880 and he started again on the west side of Hunslet Road.

In 1885 he was honoured by Queen Victoria with a Warrant of Appointment as Her Majesty's Colour Printer.

Disaster struck again in 1894 when another fire destroyed the new plant. He built the present factory at Crown Point in Hunslet Road. At its peak the factory employed 600 workers.