Waterman’s Place

Waterman's Place, Leeds, United Kingdom, CZWG Architects
Project year: 2009
Architect(s):
Address: Waterman's Place, 3 Wharf Approach, LEEDS, United Kingdom
Latitude/Longitude: 53.793403,-1.5491734

Leeds Canal Basin was regenerated through a masterplanned sequence of public spaces along side the canal and the River Aire, each defined by a series of buildings containing apartments, hotel and commercial spaces. The new quarter is now accessed from the east by using a replacement footbridge spanning the river where it emerges from the vaults beneath City railway station. CZWG’s apartment building can be found here, raised above a publicly permeable ground floor of commercial units.

Like an eroded geological mass surmounted by a ‘hill town’ of stepping blocks, and riven by a seam of polished copper, it’s a rigorously planned assembly of forms governed by its own architectural logic, but which is responsive to its canal-side location: indigenous brick walls deeply punctured by repetitive windows, and timber cladding which will weather to a warm beige-grey.

Client: Waterside Places
Content: 122 residential units, 1,098m² commercial