Leeds modern waterfront

Our recent Future Cities Forum at IET, London showcased the work that Leeds City Council and CEG are undertaking along the historic waterfront of the River Aire (at Kirkstall pictured) and South Bank.

With a population of 780,000 in Leeds and a 3 million population in the interconnected urban area outside the centre, the city already has an economic output of over £62 billion a year. Built on the River Aire, it is a city rapidly moving from an industrial to a knowledge economy. South of the river 136 hectares are now being developed with a new HS2 / 3 station and public space. 400 passiv house homes built through modular construction are already providing city accommodation for a growing business location. Burberry has chosen Leeds as its manufacturing and creative design base and Sky has provided 500 jobs in last two years.

CEG has proved the importance of raising the bar for quality redevelopment at Kirkstall on the River Aire where it has brought in FCB to masterplan on a site once home to medieval abbey, then armaments factories. It has a new railway station, giving a seven minute journey to the city centre. Working closing with Leeds City Council, CEG and FCB have created a higher density quarter of homes, office space and a new school on the River Aire waterfront and surrounded by woodland. CEG has just achieved the largest pre-let on office space in twenty years outside the city centre.