Our restoration of Leeds’ First White Cloth Hall has been named a winner of the Disruptor Award at ‘The Yorkshires’ – the region’s commercial real estate awards.
Built in 1711, the Grade II* listed First White Cloth Hall played a significant role in establishing Leeds as a dominant force in the textile industry. Despite its significance, over the years the building gradually fell out of use and its condition declined. In 1999, it was placed on Historic England’s At Risk Register and was vacated around 2010. By this point, the building’s West Wing had been demolished due to serious structural issues and what remained of the rest of the building was in extremely poor condition.
It was acquired by developers Rushbond in 2017 who appointed us to carry out a complete restoration of the building and optimise its potential as a significant building within Leeds’ heritage landscape.
Funded by Historic England, National Lottery Heritage Fund and Leeds City Council, the complex project has seen the building pulled back from the brink of complete ruin through considered conservation and repair. Where possible, surviving elements of the original brick and stone walls have been conserved and incorporated into the new designs, leaving a raw, textural character to the interior spaces. The restoration also included a complete reinstatement of the original West Wing, which was lost during demolition in 2010, and the creation of a new central, top-lit atrium which reveals the original building form and animates the space that was originally a hub of activity.
Associate, Grant Prescott, said: “We are delighted that our work has been recognised with this award. The restored First White Cloth Hall not only represents a new chapter in the building’s story, but it has made a unique and significant contribution to the ongoing regeneration of the Kirkgate neighbourhood.”
The Yorkshires celebrates the very best in commercial and office developments. The Disruptor Award is given to projects that have had a material effect on the surrounding environment or market. To win the award, the project must be widely recognised in the property sector as praiseworthy and show exceptional skill in conception, design, and execution.
