The practice’s Castleton Works proposal on the site of a disused former car park on the corner of Armley Road and Wellington Road was approved unanimously by Leeds City Council’s city plans panel this month (April 10). It will feature three buildings, the tallest reaching 18 storeys high, with other buildings set to be 14 and nine storeys tall. In addition to 384 apartments, the scheme will provide 191m2 of commercial floorspace. This marks an increase from a 306-home scheme approved for the site in 2021.Advertisement The latest proposal is designed to be mostly car-free, with just seven disabled car parking spaces to be provided, along with 236 spaces for bicycles. Approval was granted after councillors had deferred the proposals a month earlier over concerns about the level of affordable housing, provision of green space and the design of a façade. In response, developers UCR Leeds and Solaris Real Estate offered to increase the provision of affordable housing from 1.8 per cent to 5 per cent and publicly accessible green space was increased from around 800m2 to 2,096m2, including by removing a padel court from the plans. Designs were also revised to raise a parapet and strengthen a corner with a column after councillors felt the building on the corner of the site was not ‘of a landmark quality’, given it would act as a ‘gateway to the city centre’. Woods Bagot said in its design and access statement: ‘Care and attention were dedicated to creating three new open spaces with distinct characters. Programme and services have been organised to create active and inviting frontages, while keeping service spaces out of the public’s sight.’Advertisement Articulation of bars as they meet at ground level gives the development a greater sense of refinement and a human scale at its base, it said, adding that vertical emphasis to elements of the massing aid with reducing the scheme’s visual impact and give a strong overall proportionality. The design was informed by the nearby Grade II*-listed Roundhouse building and heritage asset 1 Canal Place. Council officers said the design of its ground-floor plinth strengthens visual connections with the buildings by alluding to the arched openings of the Roundhouse through their employment of arches within the new plinth at ground level, creating a legible visual lineage at human scale. Conditions attached to the permission include provision of two extra parking spaces for car club users. Architect’s view Castleton Works site in Leeds, though currently a disused parking lot in an industrial area, sits at a key junction in the expanding cycle and tram networks. Unfortunately, in 2021 the local authority had consented to a scheme that reacted defensively to its location – a podium of parking that offered no value to the public realm and lacked vision for its future community. The mission was clear: change the council's minds. Through three consultations with Leeds City Council's design officers, we offered an alternate vision of sustainable living and well-appointed green spaces. By reducing parking from 15 per cent to 5 per cent, ultimately achieving a car-free scheme, we freed up 2,700m² of valuable space. Where today stands a fenced-off, hostile environment, we envision an attractive and lively place. By organising our massing into three parallel bars, the architecture creates natural pathways, connecting the street edge to the heart of the site through three welcoming open spaces. Our proposal was place-first and ground-up, focusing on the choreography of the ground plan to create a vibrant public realm. Services and waste are corralled out of sight, allowing the towers to frame and activate the surrounding green spaces. Around the base of the buildings, we introduced a mixture of different uses and façade designs which add depth, activity and human scale to the architecture. In the deep green at the centre, townhouse units cluster around the play area to enhance safety through passive overlook, fostering a rhythm that moves between up and down, creating pocket gardens and terraces which soften the junction between building and landscape. At the site's most prominent corner, new commercial spaces energise a plaza, while residents' amenity areas further activate the street frontage along Armley Road. They are framed arched precast concrete portals, connecting the interior and exterior visually, while alluding the nearby historical Roundhouse building. This ethos extends upwards through the architecture, manifesting as a three-dimensional community infrastructure that supports leisure and wellness. The design incorporates setbacks and notches, which activate the building’s form and create communal terraces, creating places for connection among residents. As Castleton Works demonstrates, designers, planners, and city-shapers are not passive observers in the housing crisis. We are active agents with the power and the responsibility to shape places and craft homes that deliver enduring value to people and their communities. James Khamsi, associate principal, Woods Bagot