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Appointment to progress Leeds City Council’s vision for HS2

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Charlotte S Charlotte Fernández UKIMEA Press Office,Leeds
29 July 2014

Arup, alongside acclaimed Gehl Architects, has been appointed by Leeds City Council to deliver the master plan for the redevelopment of the South Bank area of Leeds.

Together the two firms will work to ensure Leeds is ready to make the most of HS2 in terms of economic and regeneration benefits, while connecting opportunities with surrounding communities.

The plans, which should be completed by the end of this year, will explore location and footprint of a cutting-edge railway station along with how it would connect to the existing station.

As well as identifying the size of the station along with car parks and associated public transport interchanges, including the trolley-bus, buses, pedestrian and cycle access the masterplan will propose design principles and images of the station.

The ambition is to create a world-class arrival space and interchange both in terms of design and ease of access while the need for car travel to the station is reduced.

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The redevelopment of the South Bank area of Leeds will be the biggest change the city centre has seen in more than 100 years. It is absolutely vital we shape it in the right way because people will have to live with what happens over the next few decades for many generations to come. Arup is a prestigious organisation with a stellar reputation and Gehl has an ethos which is very much in line with our aspirations for the city. For such a major project it is clear that we need to have the best people creating a master plan for Leeds. ” Cllr Richard Lewis Leeds City Council executive member for transport and economy

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Leeds Southbank represents a tremendous opportunity for Leeds. It is a key area for future growth and the arrival of HS2 will help to accelerate this. The Arup team is looking forward to bringing our global expertise to develop a visionary plan to support regeneration and economic uplift and create efficient transport and pedestrian links. Arup has a strong history of working successfully with Leeds City Council and we are excited to be taking this master plan forward. ” Jerome Frost Jerome Frost Director