Bridgewater Place
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeSkyscraper[lower-alpha 1]
LocationLeeds, England
Coordinates53°47′31″N 1°32′52″W / 53.7920°N 1.5479°W / 53.7920; -1.5479
Estimated completion2006
Opening2007
Height
Roof112 m (368 ft)
Technical details
Floor count32
Floor area40,000 m2 (430,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect(s)Aedas
DeveloperKW Linfoot
Main contractorBovis Lend Lease

Bridgewater Place, nicknamed The Dalek,[2][3] is an office and residential skyscraper in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was the tallest building in Yorkshire at the time of being topped out in September 2005, but is now the second-tallest after another Leeds building, Altus House. Bridgewater Place is visible at up to 25 miles (40 kilometres) from most areas.

The Building

Leeds unveiled plans for Bridgewater Place in 2001, as an £80 million 30-storey tower with eight floors of office and retail space and the rest given over to flats and penthouses. There were doubts at the time from local watchdogs about its potential wind and shade characteristics, but Leeds City Council was enthusiastic about having a true skyscraper downtown. Construction was expected to finish in autumn of 2003.[4]

The building was ultimately completed in April 2007. At the time, it was the tallest and largest building in Yorkshire, with 32 storeys, a height of 110m, and 400,000 sq ft of space, although it was exceeded in height by the local 330m Emley Moor TV mast.[5] It was called "the Dalek" in the Yorkshire Evening Post within a month of opening.[3]

Although the Evening Post stood up for it then despite the nickname, it has perennially been deemed an eyesore. Aedas was nominated for the Carbuncle Cup in 2008 on its account, it was found in a 2023 study to be one of the top ten buildings worldwide called "ugly" most frequently on Twitter, and Owen Hatherley said in 2011 that it looks "very cheap," though he allowed that it "at least...has some personality."[6][7][8] An Aedas architect involved in the project said he feels that "some of the bad press [his] building has received has shown a lack of understanding of the constraints every architect works under."[9]

Wind microclimate

Warning sign for pedestrians
Wind baffles during installation

Following the Property reaching practical completion in April 2007, it became apparent that the Property had created an unacceptable wind microclimate, principally to the north of the Property on Water Lane and also at the junction with Water Lane/Neville Street. It was found that the Property was accelerating winds coming from a westerly direction and also creating wind downdraft from the residential tower. Wind speeds were measured as high as 79 mph, comparable to a hurricane. One person suffered a torn liver and internal bleeding, and cuts requiring 11 stitches, and a buggy with a three-month-old child was pushed out into the road by a sharp gust. In March 2011, a local man, Dr Edward Slaney, was killed by a lorry overturned on him by a gust. The Crown Prosecution Service advised against bringing charges of corporate manslaughter against the architects, Aedas.[10][11][12]

As a result, a wind mitigation scheme (the “Wind Scheme”) was implemented, with construction of the Wind Scheme (comprising a canopy, five screens on the west side of the building and three “baffles” in Water Lane) being completed in summer 2018.[13][14] The owners of Bridgewater Place at the time, CPPI Bridgewater Place, agreed to pay the £903,000 cost of installation.[15][16]

In December 2013, at the inquest into Dr Slaney's death, the coroner recommended to Leeds City Council that they institute high wind safety procedures around Bridgewater Place while the wind mitigation works were being built.[17] Leeds City Council did this in February 2014. When winds were above 35 mph, the city diverted high sided vehicles from the area, and when above 45 mph, they closed the roads to non-emergency vehicles and diverted pedestrians behind a screen.[18] In October 2019, over a year after the completion of the wind mitigation works, experts hired by Bridgewater Place found that the works had reduced the risk to the public satisfactorily, and an independent expert hired by Leeds verified their findings.[19][20] Leeds City Council lifted the safety restrictions at their next meeting, charging CPPI Bridgewater Place a total of £1.223 million with the cost of the road closures.[21]

The safety problems caused by the building have affected proposals for other high-rise developments in the city. In August 2016, when submitting plans for Bridge Street, the developers stated that extensive wind tests were being undertaken to avoid 'another Bridgewater Place'.[22]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Under the Emporis Standards Committee, a skyscraper is defined as a multi-storey building which is at least 100 m tall.[1]

References

  1. ↑ "Skyscraper, Emporis Standards". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  2. ↑ "Building – 734 – Bridgewater Place – Leeds". SKYSCRAPERNEWS.COM. Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
  3. 1 2 "Why we should all love Leeds's Dalek". Yorkshire Evening Post. 16 April 2007. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  4. ↑ Wainwright, Martin (20 July 2001). "Leeds aims high with its lofty ambition to tower over rivals". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  5. ↑ "City's tallest building completed". BBC News. 26 April 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  6. ↑ "A Bridgewater too far?". BBC News. 10 July 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  7. ↑ Jackson, Benjamin (21 January 2023). "UK's architectural eyesores: Bridgewater Place ranked in top ten buildings deemed 'eyesores' - full list". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  8. ↑ "City's skylines are seeing the good, the bad and the ugly". Yorkshire Evening Post. 29 September 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  9. ↑ "My Place: Bridgwater Place, Leeds". Here & Now. Cambridge, England: The Academy of Urbanism. 21 May 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  10. ↑ "Bridgewater Place inquest: Coroner calls for road closure". BBC News. Leeds & West Yorkshire. 3 December 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  11. ↑ "The central Leeds street where skyscraper winds 'pick people off the pavement'". The Yorkshire Post. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  12. ↑ Wainwright, Oliver (14 August 2014). "'Killer towers': how architects are battling hazardous high-rises". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  13. ↑ "End in sight for '˜wind tunnel' safety work at Bridgewater Place in Leeds". Yorkshire Evening Post. 10 January 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  14. ↑ Macleod, Gillian; Murphy, Nicola (16 October 2019). Bridgewater Place Wind Monitoring (PDF) (Report). Leeds City Council. p. 2. Retrieved 6 June 2023. The implementation works to install the wind mitigation scheme were completed in summer 2018.
  15. ↑ "Leeds' Bridgewater Place owners to foot £900,000 wind bill". BBC News. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  16. ↑ "Owners of skyscraper agree deal on safety measures". The Yorkshire Post. 29 October 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  17. ↑ "Bridgewater Place inquest: Coroner calls for road closure". BBC News. 3 December 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  18. ↑ "New safety policies for Leeds Bridgewater Place 'wind tunnel'". The Yorkshire Post. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  19. ↑ "Bridgewater Place high-wind road closures could be scrapped". BBC News. 14 October 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  20. ↑ "High wind road closure rules in Leeds should be scrapped, say experts". Yorkshire Evening Post. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  21. ↑ Macleod, Gillian; Murphy, Nicola (16 October 2019). Bridgewater Place Wind Monitoring (PDF) (Report). Leeds City Council. p. 4. Retrieved 22 June 2023. The proposed removal of the high winds protocol will remove the need for specialised and bespoke Bridgewater Place wind forecasts to be obtained. The current close management of the highways around this site by the Council's Highways Maintenance Team will no longer be necessary. The costs to the Council of these past measures are in the amount of £1.223m They will be recharged to the owners of Bridgewater Place in accordance with the Settlement Agreement reached with full reimbursement being achieved.
  22. ↑ "Leeds supertowers proposal 'must not repeat wind tunnel chaos'". Yorkshire Evening Post. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
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