South Bank buildings, Leeds

Application to demolish some of the last buildings on Crown Point Road, Leeds:

It looks like the decade of scaffolding erected to preserve this building until some heritage funding could be found, was in vain after all. About 4 buildings can be found along Crown Street, that are currently constitute the cultural lynchpin of the recently branded ‘South Bank’. The scarcity of the heritage here means those bricks are worth their weight in gold. The map above shows how dense the urban tissue of the area used to be – now generally in use as a series of surface car parks.

Those that don’t know Leeds’ Southbank will wonder what merit there would be in hanging on to these dilapidated buildings. When you consider the entirety of Victorian Leeds south of the River Aire has all but been lost, every last vestige of the industrial past needs to be retained to anchor the space within some historical context. The developer, Vastint (which is actually Ikea) should be aware of the irreplaceable value this adds to development. If the regeneration of the south bank takes place upon a tabula rasa, then it isn’t really regeneration. Its a boring new town.

The building is modest, however it does demonstrate some interesting features, with a hinged front elevation, and stone detailing that makes for an attractive urban building. I don’t know much about the building, and would be curious to know if any readers out there know its previous use, or of previous plans to regenerate it.