Building Design Partnership - Retail - Leeds, White Rose Shopping Centre

Date: 05 Dec 1997

The White Rose Centre near Leeds, designed by the Sheffield office of Building Design Partnership, was awarded the British Council of Shopping Centres (BCSC) New Centre Award at a ceremony in London last night (Wednesday 3 December 1997).

The award citation states the centre has "a very strong contemporary architectural feel about it. The White Rose Centre... is well integrated into a dramatic landscaped setting embracing a challenging 30 metre cross fall. Entrances are clearly marked by canopies and signage, and overall the plan layout is extremely efficient. The malls are easy to use, and the lighting is good - highlighted by a dramatic gondola feature above the central concourse with 12,000 fibre optic lights operating in sequence as daylight fades. The centre was fully let at the day of opening and retailers report brisk sales. Strong centre management is evident in what is an efficiently planned and well thought out shopping centre".

Earlier in the year White Rose also won the European Steel Building of the Year Award.

The 60,000 m² (650,000 sq ft) centre, developed by Land Securities Properties Ltd in association with Evans of Leeds plc and Yorkshire Water Estates Ltd, was opened on schedule in March 1997.

The centre comprises a single level mall anchored at one end by Savacentre and at the other by Debenhams. There are 71 unit shops and ten major stores, including BHS, C&A, Boots, Woolworth. W H Smith, Sears, Next, Mothercare, and the Burton Group.

At first floor level is a major food court, with seating for 550. Grade level access is provided to each of the scheme's floors, by making use of the sloping site. Bus and coach facilities, taxi ranks and 4,800 car spaces ensure good customer access.

Lofty glazed roofs to the mall and atriums bring high levels of natural light to the public areas, creating a bright airy atmosphere for shoppers. Two double banks of escalators and lifts provide vertical circulation between trading levels, while a dramatic lighting feature provides a centrepiece to the main mall atrium.

Great emphasis was placed on the quality of the landscaped setting in which the building is placed. In total there are some 5,000 trees on the site.

BDP was architect, landscape architect, civil and structural engineer, mechanical, electrical and public health engineer, interior designer, specialist lighting designer and acoustics consultant. The main contractor for the £70m centre was Amec Construction Ltd.

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