White Rose Centre
 One White Rose Centre Entrance | |
| Location | Dewsbury Road, Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. LS11 8LU |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 25 March 1997 |
| Owner | Land Securities |
| No. of stores and services | 110 |
| Total retail floor area | 680,000 sq ft (63,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 2 |
| Website | white-rose.co.uk |
The White Rose Centre is a shopping centre in the Beeston area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.[1][2][3] It spans two floors and is near the M621 motorway. It takes its name from the White Rose of York, the traditional symbol of Yorkshire. The Upper Level houses the centre's food court. The centre has 4,800 free car parking spaces, security on-site Police officers. Although the centre is smaller than other out-of-town shopping centres, it has attracted international retailers such as Zara and H&M.
The centre opened on 25 March 1997 and accommodates major tenants including Sainsbury's, Debenhams, Marks and Spencer, Next, W H Smith, HMV, Bhs, Primark, Zara, H&M, Barratts and 100 other stores. The south part of the centre was re-developed in 2005 downsizing the Sainsbury's Savacentre to a regular Sainsbury's which made space for other units.
The centre has a bus station connecting it to suburban areas of Leeds and to the city centre. The centre is managed and mainly by Land Securities and Evans of Leeds. It has also won awards including a British Council of Shopping Centre's (BCSC) Gold Award, BCSC Purple apple, and Green apple awards.
Construction
The site covers 76 acres (310,000 m2) and was formerly the Morley Sewage works. Before building work began in 1995, enabling works including removing the sewage works, sealing disused mine shafts, removing contaminated soil and profiling the sloping site, were carried out. It required moving 750,000 cubic metres of soil to grade a 30 metre fall across the site and create level terraces for the structure and car parks. Work commenced on the 87-week project on 10 July 1995 and by September the first steelwork was visible. 600 semi-mature, seven metre high trees were purchased from Germany and planted in the car park to provide landscaping. Five thousand trees and shrubs have been planted around the car parks and perimeter roads.
The Upper Circle Food Court takes up most of the upper floor in the central atrium. It contains a McDonald's, a KFC, a Subway, Spud-u-like, Pizza Hut Express, Bagel Nash, Juice, BB's Coffee, Muffin, a Nando's restaurant and a Frankie & Benny's.
To coincide with its tenth year of trading the White Rose Centre was rebranded. Its logo, advertising, signage and staff uniforms were redesigned. The branding and strategic marketing campaign won a BCSC Purple Apple award.
Community
The White Rose Centre is involved in a number of social welfare activities in the local area.[4] It organizes tea dance sessions for older people who are able to participate in mall walking within the covered environment. It houses the White Rose Learning Centre run in conjunction with Education Leeds and Leeds City College[5] to provide dance classes and other educational activities for children at risk of exclusion from school in an informal environment. The Quiet Room in the Upper Circle is available for use by all patrons and staff during the Centre opening hours.
Criticisms
One criticism of the centre is the width of the malls which are narrow. Another criticism is the lack of a railway station, despite the centre's proximity to the "Huddersfield" and "Wakefield" railway lines, but plans to add a station have been developed.
Fire
On Saturday 15 November 2008 a vehicle caught fire on the service road and grew out of control forcing the evacuation of the centre and the adjoining service area. As a consequence the centre introduced new fire safety measures.[citation needed]
Future development
In May 2013, plans for retail space and leisure space at the 76-acre site were submitted to the council. The plans include a multi-screen cinema, 9,100 sq m of new retail space; extending the Debenhams and Primark stores and three small retail units, four catering outlets and enhanced public space and additional landscaping features.[6] The plan includes a railway station as the centre is adjacent to a railway line connecting it to the city centre.
Concerns were raised about the reduced car parking space. The improvements team and Land Securities, plan to buy and refurbish a disused scrapyard next-to Sainsbury's petrol station into a car park with 'a secure walkway to the centre'.[7]
The first stage of this development is underway with major construction work taking place.
See also
References
- ↑ http://www.white-rose.co.uk/gettinghere/index.aspx
- ↑ http://www.landsecuritiesretail.com/propertyportfolio/shoppingcentres/northeast/whiterose/index.aspx
- ↑ http://www.pilkingtons.com/pilk/index.php?page=studywhiterose
- ↑ White Rose Community
- ↑ Education Leeds White Rose Learning Centre
- ↑ http://white-rose-improvements.co.uk/proposals.html
- ↑ http://white-rose-improvements.co.uk/proposals.html
External links
Coordinates: 53°45′27″N 1°34′27″W / 53.75750°N 1.57417°W