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| Leeds city centre | |
|---|---|
 A view of the south side of Leeds city centre, from Beeston Hill in February 2013 | |
 Street map | |
  Leeds city centre | |
| OS grid reference | SE297338 |
| • London | 190 mi (310 km) SSE |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LEEDS |
| Postcode district | LS1, LS2, LS10, LS11 |
| Dialling code | 0113 |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| UK Parliament | |
| 53°47′59″N1°32′54″W / 53.7998°N 1.5482°W /53.7998; -1.5482 | |
Leeds city centre is thecentral business district ofLeeds,West Yorkshire, England. It is roughly bounded by theInner Ring Road to the north and theRiver Aire to the south and can be divided into several quarters.
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The old town is considered the retail core of Leeds, it extends south from buildings on either side of The Headrow to theRiver Aire.Kirkgate andBriggate are the oldest streets in Leeds, from which the city grew from.Briggate is home to several chain food and shopping chains, was fully pedestrianised in 1996 and connected the two previously pedestrian areas either side of it.
The old town can be further subdivided into several areas: the city square; the Victorian arcades (such as theGrand Arcade, Thornton's Arcade and the County Arcade); department stores and indoor shopping centres of The Headrow (such asThe Light andSt John's Centre), The Calls' markets (Corn Exchange andLeeds Kirkgate Market).
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Opened 21 March 2013,[1]Trinity Leeds shopping centre had a surge of 130,000 people enter its doors on the first day of opening. Costing £350 million,[1] and creating 3,000 jobs,[1] this was a major development for Leeds. It was the only major retail development to open in the UK in 2013.[1] It covers 1,000,000 sq ft (92,900 sq m)[1][2] with has a capacity for 120 shops and numerouspop-up shops.
The Calls is close to theRiver Aire. The area's decline began in the early 20th century when industry moved away from the centre outwards. From 1985 to 1995Leeds Corporation carried out a major regeneration with a careful conversion of listed building warehouses and new build in sympathetic style for a mixed-use area. Many of the area's old industrial buildings have now been converted into modern flats and commercial buildings.
Mediaeval Leeds ended atThe Headrow, multiple entertainment venues and municipal buildings were built directly north of the narrower shopping areas of the city.[3][4]
The area's entertainment venues areLeeds Arena, areLeeds Academy,Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House.Millennium Square anchored by the civic hall was a flagship project to mark the year 2000. It hosts regular concerts, with past performers including theKaiser Chiefs,Bridewell Taxis,HARD-Fi,Fall Out Boy andEmbrace.
It is home to a number of grandVictorian buildings that are important in the civic life of the city. Prominent institutes include Leeds Magistrates' and Crown Courts,Leeds Library,Leeds Art Gallery,Leeds Civic Hall andLeeds Town Hall. The town hall was completed in 1858 and opened byQueen Victoria. Leeds Civic Hall opened in 1933 byKing George V and is home to the Lord Mayor's Room and the council chambers. Manybarristers' chambers and solicitors' offices are found here because of the close proximity to the courts.
The area has a number high-rise residential properties and developments, includingSky Plaza andOpal 3.Altus House is the tallest building inYorkshire. Other major institutions are located within the Quarter, including the Yorkshire Bank HQ and also theMerrion Centre. Queen Square is also found here.
Leeds General Infirmary, theLeeds Beckett University and theUniversity of Leeds each have a large campus forming an expansive tri-campus area in the north-east city centre, spanning both sides of the inner ring road and expanding into the areas. In addition to the two university campuses there are also multiple smaller education campuses to the area includingLeeds Art University,Notre Dame Sixth Form College,Leeds City College and Blenheim Primary School.
Quarry Hill is the city's northern cultural quarter. Centred upon Centenary Square, landmarks include: NHS England's Quarry House; theBBC Yorkshire building, which moved from Woodhouse Lane in August 2004; theLeeds Playhouse, which opened in March 1990;Leeds College of Music, which moved to its current location in 1997; andNorthern Ballet which moved to the area in 2010.Leeds City College also has a large campus here.
Leeds Dock is the city's southern Cultural Quarter. It is where theRoyal Armouries Museum can be found, the building was designed by architect Derek Walker and built at a cost of £42.5 million over two years. The museum has since become one of the city's major tourist attractions.
The Financial Quarter is bounded by Park Row to the East,Leeds Inner Ring Road to the west, The Headrow to the north and Wellington Street to the south. It is centred on the GeorgianPark Square, one of the green spaces in Leeds city centre. The City Centre Loop passes through the quarter, usingCity Square, Quebec Street, King Street and East Parade. Leeds Law School is at Cloth Hall Court. Major names can be found in the financial quarter such asAviva andThe Bank of England. The district has grown out towards the west of the city. The Wellington Place development and the wider Wellington Gardens area of the city contain a number of international corporations. Wellington Place is currently under construction.[5]
Historically, Holbeck Urban Village wasHolbeck's closest area to the centre ofLeeds. Due to the expansion of the city, it is now considered part of the city centre and was rezoned asHolbeck Urban Village, following the completion of a number of developments. is the name given by local government and planning agencies to a mixed-useurban renewal area south ofLeeds railway station.Bridgewater Place and alsoGranary Wharf are withinHolbeck Urban Village. The newHigh Speed 2 station was due to border this area of Leeds, which is why much of the area is considered prime location for development.
Financial
Hospitality in the city centre
Other headquarters includeAsda andChannel 4.
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Each Christmas the streets of Leeds city centre are decorated with a variety ofChristmas lights. The widely publicised ‘switch-on' ceremony is in early November, when a celebrity flicks the switch to illuminate the decorations at Victoria Gardens and usually attracts tens-of-thousands of people to the turning on ceremony. When Leeds Lights were first established in 1983, the switch on was held on the 4th Thursday of November, however it has since been brought forward. The illuminations are renowned as being the largest display in the United Kingdom, spanning over 13 miles of city centre streets and using over 2 million low energy light bulbs.
Leeds is notable for designing, manufacturing and maintaining its own Christmas Light motifs. Its workshop began as a place to provide people with disabilities some employment opportunities. Its workshop has had several locations, beginning in a temporary location near Chapeltown Road, then to the old disused Whitbread Brewery site at Kirkstall and from 1993 to the present Seacroft location. Leeds City Council was the only local authority to do this for some years but now a small number have followed Leeds Lights example in preparing their own displays where as most other councils buy in their lights and services. The lights are repaired and pressure cleaned annually at the Leeds Lights workshop in Seacroft throughout the year. 80,000 coloured lamps are stored at the workshop, and 2000m of coloured rope light are used. A team of 14 works all year round producing the display. From October–January, a team of 9 works to erect the lights ready for the switch on in early November, before removing the lights after Christmas.
Commercial advertising has been permitted on some of the lights, such as The Headrow's champagne bottle lights.
Celebrities who turned on the Leeds Christmas lights:
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Leeds city centre is served byLeeds railway station. The station is one of 20 in Great Britain to be managed byNetwork Rail. It is the busiest English station outside London, and the UK's second busiest station outside London afterGlasgow Central.[9] The station serves national, regional and suburban railway services.
The city centre is served byLeeds Bradford Airport. This is situated inYeadon approximately seven miles north -west of the city centre. The city centre is linked to the airport by the A1 bus service operated byYorkshire Coastliner.[10] The airport serves major European destinations as well as many further afield.
Traffic passing past Leeds city centre is diverted away from the main areas by theLeeds Inner Ring Road, an urban motorway passing the East, North and West of the city centre. Much of the Inner Ring Road is in tunnels so not visible to passing pedestrians. All major routes into Leeds head towards the city centre. The city centre is served by theM621 motorway.
The most notable bus service within central Leeds is the LeedsCityBus service operated byFirst Leeds and funded byWest Yorkshire Metro. This service runs every few minutes in a clockwise direction around the city centre. It serves major transport interchanges and both universities as well as the main shopping and financial districts. There have been calls for a second FreeCityBus to serve emerging business, leisure and residential districts in the southern part of central Leeds.
Leeds city centre has its mainbus station in the east of the city. However, as a rule only buses heading out of theCity of Leeds andNational Express services use it. LocalFirst Leeds buses use stops on the city streets, or a number of smaller bus stations, referred to as bus points, at Bond Street, Infirmary Street,Leeds railway station and the Corn Exchange.
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