WorDS: acme
phoToS: JacK hobhouse
aCME
victoria
Gate
the brief for the victoriA GAte masterplan was to design a
new, vibrant, key urban block in Leeds city centre which provided
retail and leisure uses anchored by a department store, with an
associated car park. The visibility and identity of the department
store was an important part of the brief.
The scheme needed to be designed as an extension of the
Headrow, the city’s main civic axis, and Hammerson’s brief right
from the beginning was that the scheme should not be a ‘mall’ but
more a 21st century extension of the existing Victorian arcades
for which Leeds is famous.
Victoria Gate,in the East of Leeds city centre, forms a natural
extension of Victoria Quarter and Leeds’s retail district. The
scheme includes a new John Lewis department store, multi storey
car parking and two arcades with a mix of shops, restaurants and
leisure facilities.
The new John Lewis store anchors the scheme. Placed on the
extension of the Headrow, the city’s main civic axis, the store
forms a visible gateway into the city centre.
The buildings appear as three distinct elements with individual
identities that relate to each other and the vernacular of Leeds.