An urban woodland could be created in the centre of Leeds as part of the winning entry to a RIBA competition to re-design its landmark City Square.
A team led by re-form Landscape Architecture has been announced as the recommended choice to collaborate with Leeds City Council and other stakeholders on the scheme and are expected to be appointed by the council’s executive board at a meeting next Wednesday, June 23. re-form would work with global engineering and consultancy firm Arup; renowned artist, Nayan Kulkarni and consultant on childhood and global advocate for children’s play and mobility, Tim Gill on the multi-million-pound project.
‘The Glade’ is intended to be a space in the centre of the city surrounded by layers of woodland planting that would symbolise Leeds’s ambition to be carbon neutral by 2030. The project would allow the Forest of Loidis – the ancient forest on which the city was built – to re-emerge as a setting for city life.
Andrew Price, director at re-form Landscape Architecture commented: “This is a critical moment for Leeds and other cities around the world as they seek to adapt to climate change while creating welcoming and prosperous places to live. ‘The Glade’ is an ambitious response to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, creating a place where people and nature can co-exist in the heart of a thriving urban centre. The re-emergence of nature in Leeds will tell a story about Leeds’s past and its future.
The redevelopment of City Square is part of the council’s wider Our Spaces strategy, which aims to deliver new and improved public spaces for Leeds.
Images Credit: The Collective
