Greenspace at Sovereign Square

Leeds, United Kingdom

City population: 746855

Duration: 2015 – 2016

Implementation status: Completed

Scale: Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level

Project area: 6000 m²

Type of area: Central Business District / City Centre

Last updated: October 2021

Green public space in the city with 60 new trees, large lawn areas, two water features and a rain garden that manages the site’s surface water. (2) This diversely planted area will manage surface water for the northern half of the space, improving the city’s flooding resilience and establishing an ecologically rich habitat in a part of the city that is still recovering after the banks of the River Aire burst in December 2015. (3, 4) The space serves as a gathering place for workers and visitors, providing a place for rest and reflection among natural elements. (5)

Greenspace at Sovereign Square 3D Plans (16)

Overview

Nature-based solution

Grey infrastructure featuring greens
Alley or street trees and other street vegetation
Blue infrastructure
Riverbank/Lakeside greens
Parks and urban forests
Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces
Green areas for water management
Rain gardens

Key challenges

Water management (SDG 6)
Flood protection
Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Regeneration, land-use and urban development
Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development

Focus

Creation of new green areas

Project objectives

-The Sovereign Square is the first new major public space in Leeds for a generation to establish a new standard for a sustainable public realm design in the city centre as a green space. (3) -The greenspace includes a tree-lined boulevard, grassed area, water feature, and lighting and outdoor seating which will combine to offer a backdrop for street cafes to be developed. (7) It is built as a thriving public space for hundreds of workers and visitors, as well as to provide an attractive new link from the city centre through to Leeds Council’s South Bank Leeds regeneration area. -The space also features a rain garden to manage the surface water runoff, reducing the risk of flooding while bringing an ecologically rich habitat to the city centre. (6) -Trees and plants have been chosen to become a source of food and shelter for birds and other animals. (23) -To fit into the cultural surroundings the new space links a new fountain plaza to the nearby River Aire (8).

Implementation activities

Leeds City Council's executive board approved the creation of the new ‘Sovereign Square’ at its meeting at Civic Hall on Wednesday 6 November. (7) The intervention was opened as the first city-centre green space in several decades in Leeds in July 2016. (9) Hardscape supplied Crystal Black Granite with sawn edges and a flamed, cropped top surface for the dynamic fountain plaza to create a ripple effect when the water tumbles over it. Sandstone, Fagley Yorkstone, was meanwhile sourced from a nearby quarry in Bradford for its buff coloured appearance and impressive technical properties to create the paving, copings, steps and curbs. (11) The site housed a temporary pay and display car park since plans were scrapped for the 'Criterion Place' development in July 2008 to build a skyscraper as the tallest building in Leeds due to the recession. (7, 16)

Main beneficiaries

Private sector/Corporate/Company
Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

Local government/municipality
Private sector/corporate actor/company

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

Unknown

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

Leeds City Council worked with Re-Form Landscape Architecture, landscape consultancy and supplier Hardscape and civil engineering company Eurovia Contracting Ltd to create a contemporary public space adorned with water features, greenery and seating areas surrounded by attractive paving and hard landscaping features. (11) Re-Form worked closely with the Fountain Workshop artist Mel Chantrey on the design of Sovereign Square, who used the area’s natural geology of river courses and canals as their inspiration. (13, 14) Eurovia was selected to undertake the contract, which has been procured through the YORcivil framework, following a successful mini-tender exercise. (12) Construction company Jones of Oswestry provided a number of ARBOSLOT recessed tree surrounds to the development. (17) The project is integrated into developers Bruntwood and Kier Property's plans - working with HW Architectural (20) - to bring businesses to the location, as it did KPMG. (16)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown

... a national policy or strategy? Unknown

... a local policy or strategy? Yes (Alison Finch of re-form Landscape Architecture suggests that "The emphasis on bringing green infrastructure to the city centre was a crucial part of the public realm design". (4) This implies the interventions ties to the Green Infrastructure Strategy for the Leeds City Region. (22))

Financing

Total cost

€2,000,000 - €4,000,000

Source(s) of funding

Public local authority budget

Type of funding

Earmarked public budget

Non-financial contribution

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

Water management and blue areas
Increased protection against flooding
Green space and habitat
Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
Increased green space area

Economic impacts

Attraction of business and investment

Socio-cultural impacts

Social justice and cohesion
Improved access to urban green space
Health and wellbeing
Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
Cultural heritage and sense of place
Improvement in people’s connection to nature

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts, Achieved impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

Yes

References

(1) re-form. (2012). Projects: Sovereign Square, Leeds. Source link [Accessed 2 October 2020]
(2) re-form. (2016). re-form landscape architecture. Source link [Accessed 2 October 2020]
(3) Northern Design Awards. (2016). Sovereign Square, Leeds. [Website unavailable in 2020]
(4) Yorkshire Post. (2015). Leeds floods from the air: See full extent of the devastation. Source link [Accessed 2 October 2020]
(5) Peeler, Katie. (2017). Leeds’ Urban Renewal Brings Trees to the City Centre: Silva Cell Case Study. Source link [Accessed 2 October 2020]
(6) ADF. (2016). re-form Landscape Architecture marks milestone opening of Leeds’ first city centre public space in decades. Source link [Accessed 2 October 2020]
(7) Boyde, Roger. (2013). Senior councillors set to give final approval for new city centre green space. [Website not available in 2020]
(8) Yorkshire Reporter. (2015). Council Digs In To Create A City Centre Oasis In Leeds. Source link [Accessed 2 October 2020]
(9) Yorkshire Evening Post. (2016). First park in Leeds city centre to open in decades is finally unveiled. [Website unavailable in 2020]
(10) Hardscape. [no date]. Sovereign Square, Leeds. [Website not available in 2020]
(11) Hardscape. (2017). Local materials pride of place in Leeds’ first urban park for decades. Source link [Website not available in 2020]
(12) Eurovia. (2015). Eurovia Contracting North starts work on Soveriegn Square, Leeds. Source link [Accessed 2 October 2020]
(13) The Fountain Workshop. (2016). From car park to people’s park. Source link [Accessed 2 October 2020]
(14) Leeds City Council. (2016). Idea blooms into city centre oasis for Leeds. Source link [Accessed 2 October 2020]
(15) Bruntwood and Kier. [no date]. 3. Sovereign Square Leeds. [Document Attached]
(16) Sheerin, Joseph. (2014). The Future of Sovereign Square & Our New City Centre Park. Source link [Accessed 2 October 2020]
(17) Jones of Oswestry. (2016). Sovereign Square Leeds. Source link [Accessed 2 October 2020]
(18) Robinson, Paul. (2012). Leeds city centre mini-park images revealed. [Website not available in 2020]
(19) Source link. (2014). Sovereign Square development. [Website not available in 2020]
(20) HWA. (2015). Current Project - 3 Sovereign Square, Leeds - December Update. [Website not available in 2020]
(21) Leeds City Council. (2011). Sovereign Street Draft Planning Statement: February 2011. [Document attached]
(22) LDA Design. (2010). Leeds city region: intelligence driving growth: Green infrastructure Strategy. Oxford. LDA Design. [Document attached]
(23) deeproot@rethinktrees. (2017). Leeds' Urban Renewal Brings Trees to the City CentreSilva Cell Case Study. Source link [Accessed 2 October 2020]
(24) LocalGov (2019) Urban Green Space Runner-up: Sovereign Square, Leeds City Council and re-form landscape architecture. Source: Source link [Accessed 2 October 2020]

Greenspace at Sovereign Square 3D Plans (16)