Photo by: Ashley Dace
Architects Jestico + Whiles have won their bid to transform the Grade II-listed Engine House in Leeds into a microbrewery, restaurant and art house cinema.
The project forms part of the wider Tower Works redevelopment – also devised by Jestico + Whiles – creating 147 residential units and more than 100,000 sq ft of commercial space in a former industrial site by the Leeds-Liverpool canal.
‘A thriving reuse of the Engine House is key to the success of the overall Tower Works redevelopment,’ says Ben Marston, director of the practice.
‘Our proposal aims at retaining and augmenting the Engine House’s unique character, with historic features maintained and restored, transforming it into a space for the local community.’
Jestico + Whiles’ scheme for the 1899 power house – designed by William Bakewell – includes restoration of its historic mosaic floors and Burmantofts brickwork, sourced from the local area.
In their plans, the bar and microbrewery will take over the ground floor, with the art house cinema on the upper level. The restaurant will move into the building’s double-height engine room.
Engine House’s ground floor entrance will be fitted with glazed doors that open onto a new public piazza, set to be the centrepiece of the Tower Works development in Leeds’ Holbeck Urban Village area.
Councillor Richard Lewis – executive member for regeneration, transport and planning at Leeds City Council – says: ‘Importantly, this is another great example of imaginative reuse of listed buildings in Holbeck Urban Village.’
Jestico + Whiles, as part of a team led by developer Carillion, will submit a planning application for the Tower Works regeneration project this summer. Construction is expected to begin in January 2016.
