Wade Lane

23 storey block comprising 108 cluster flats with 580 bed spaces and ground floor retail unit and bar/restaurant.

Data

No. of floors - 23
Height -
Building type - Residential
Year of construction -
Architect -
Location - Wade Lane & Jacob Street, Leeds 2 (on the site of the Little Londoner pub)

http://www.leeds-cityscape.co.uk/littlelondonsm.jpg

I'm afraid this doesn't excite me in the slightest. Strange 'shoulder' area of town, overlooking the inner ring road and Little London, and seems rather hulking and bizarrely reminiscent of Quarry Hill's 'kremlin'. Add to that it will be packed with students. The Blenheim Walk scheme seems much more interesting in terms of a period conversion with new build in a fantastic location close to the university and more importantly the 'Dry Dock'.

Well it cant do much bad in the Little London area. Hopefully it will compliment The Plaza. Not all students are bad!
When will this be going ahead then?

I quite like the look of it. The tower looks good and will help build up the inner ring road as a major city centre corridor along with the Plaza, Blenheim, New York House and other proposals.

It's not really like Blenheim as it is just a single tower, whereas Blenheim is a whole 'urban village'.

Well it cant do much bad in the Little London area. Hopefully it will compliment The Plaza. Not all students are bad!
When will this be going ahead then?

i know, I was one for 4 years, and aside from high japes with road cones and a firemans helmet I didn't put a foot wrong. I just think it looks oppressive, a bit like the Vauxhall Tower (St George's Wharf) which was approved down here in London village.

The urban village of Blenheim is more up my street really. Although i like the Plaza, that's more its location and proximity to the Uni.

Blenheim looks like it will be a huge success, however I would like to see what happens to HUV and the regeneration of any other deprived wards, including Armley and Sheepscar which do not have the university proximity of Blenheim. Looking at all the masterplans and proposals, there are few areas of Leeds which will not benefit by something (if everything goes ahead) within the next 10 years. Harehills will get the supertram, and west leeds has a masterplan- south leeds will have supertram, HUV, White Rose Centre, central Leeds is obvious- north Leeds is already good enough.

Blenheim looks like it will be a huge success, however I would like to see what happens to HUV and the regeneration of any other deprived wards, including Armley and Sheepscar which do not have the university proximity of Blenheim. Looking at all the masterplans and proposals, there are few areas of Leeds which will not benefit by something (if everything goes ahead) within the next 10 years. Harehills will get the supertram, and west leeds has a masterplan- south leeds will have supertram, HUV, White Rose Centre, central Leeds is obvious- north Leeds is already good enough.

LN1, your continuing optimism that Supertram will go ahead is quite touching! Keep it up fella, you're needed to counteract the rest of us pessimistic old cynics! ;)

No actually Im quite pesimistic about Supertram actually lol, although usually Im quite optomistic about things. When I say that wherever will have supertram, it doesnt necessarily mean this scheme or any time soon! Just it will get it eventually, it has to gwt it (or an equivalent)

If everyone thinks something is hopeless though, people will give up and we'll get nowhere so we have to keep trying otherwise theres no point in even thinking about it.

No actually Im quite pesimistic about Supertram actually lol, although usually Im quite optomistic about things. When I say that wherever will have supertram, it doesnt necessarily mean this scheme or any time soon! Just it will get it eventually, it has to gwt it (or an equivalent)

If everyone thinks something is hopeless though, people will give up and we'll get nowhere so we have to keep trying otherwise theres no point in even thinking about it.

Quite right, the supertram bid leaders including our glorious leader Mark Harris is saying they will fight for it to the bitter end. If you want something bad enough, you have to go all the way in trying to get it, it's often the only way to succeed.

Application 20/455/04/FU
Received on 13/10/2004

Description
23 storey block comprising 104 cluster flats with 582 bed spaces and ground floor retail unit and a3/a4 unit
Location
JACOB STREET AND WADE LANE LEEDS 2 3030-3415 MAJ
Library

Decision Permission Granted Decision Date 10/08/2005

hey up - another 'interesting' design to add to the high ground occupied by the Plaza and Tower North. From the render we're seen, I'm not convinced about this one. Seems like a cheap attempt at cramming more students into a city centre site. The Plaza and Blenheim seem much more imaginative.

If the Brunswick buildings have been put up for sale by Leeds Met, then expect a developer to snap them up quick and propose something big for the old Met buildings and associated car parks. Again, overlooking the ring road, they can't make too much of a heinous impact, but I suspect we'll get something tall.

[QUOTE=jimbo]If the Brunswick buildings have been put up for sale by Leeds Met, then expect a developer to snap them up quick and propose something big for the old Met buildings and associated car parks.QUOTE]

Kite Tower, anyone?

just a quick question, this deveopment is by no means a favourate of mine but i had noticed it had recieved approval some time ago. i was just wondering whether there was any news that i had missed.

The website for this will be at http://www.victoriahall.com/index2.htm. It's listed as 'work taking place', and the site now appears to be cleared and boarded off, although that doesn't mean construction has started yet. The elevation is 74.5m to the roof and 82m to the tip of spire, making it virtually identical to the adjacent tower north central.

Happened to be passing this site yesterday, it is cleared and hoarded off (done recently) but nothing is happening there. However, what has gone up there are two large signs by Opal Group saying 'site aquired by The Opal Group'. They seem to be a good development company and are near finishing the massive 15 storey Kirkstall Rd building, and are already planning a phase 2 for that site.

Is that company related to Victoria Hall in any way ? If not, I wonder where the Victoria Hall site in Leeds that is mentioned as nearing completion is located ?

Victoria Hall certainly seam to have a good record of getting things done judging by their other developments around the country. It's just the quality I'm worried about - their recent block in Glasgow was very poor indeed... cheap cladding materials and unimaginative design.

I'm not aware of any other development of theirs in Leeds though - nothing is listed on the website. I presume the bit about the leeds building 'nearing completion' is simply an inaccurate and optimistic description of the Wade lane block. If they start now, then there's a possibility of a sept 2007 finish in time for the new student intake.

But are 'Opal Group' and 'Victoria Hall' linked ? If not, this is not (or no longer) a 'Victoria Hall' development.

Opal homepage, click on buildings and Leeds for Opal Court (http://www.opal-group.com/)

I see what you mean. I would appear then that this isn't victoria hall's development after all, as I have no knowledge of any link. A new application hasn't been submitted, so i'm assuming their building the same thing.

That's one possibility, but I suspect they will raise their own new application in the not too distant future. This lot don't seem to hang around much.

Anyone know anything about this: http://www.smcgower.com/project/mixed-use/wade-lane ?

I think you have the find of the year LeedsLad, that is mouth watering!!!! too bad tis coming out at the worst possible time!

its possibley relating to the old proposals on the site that were at the start of this thread dated 2005.

The website says it was just competition entries.. and there is no date when the designs were made. Its most likely that we are looking at old renders from 2005/2006 of what could have potentially been on this site.

Surely that SMC Gower proposal is a proposal for the now axed Brunswick Place site development which I believe was originally subject to a competition for various architect firms to subject their designs for redevelopment of this former Leeds Met Uni site (which was won by Castlemore Securities / Glenn Howells Architects)? http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=356557

Nice proposal mind and shame it is one of many which never took place.

quite - nice glass scheme - but surely for the site of the Little Londoner pub......tis not Opal site? There's lots of spare land up that way, so could be elsewhere, but lets face it, the website really only refers to it as a competition entry / visualisation. Good find though.

As long as it's not the Opal site...

I note with some interest the pics in the post that I made on the Merrion Centre thread - perhaps this is some part of the Merrion facing on to Wade Lane?