The Light is a leisure and retail centre in central

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

in West Yorkshire, England. It occupies the rectangular space between The Headrow on the south, St Anne's Street on the north, Cookridge Street on the west, and Albion Street. Two former streets divide it: Upper Fountaine Street (east-west) and Cross Fountaine Street (north-south) now covered with a glass roof. It incorporates two

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Permanent House and the Headrow Buildings.

Structure

The Light opened in 2001 with a retail area of . In 2002 the £100 million development won two City of Leeds Awards for Architecture and Lighting: the Altered Building Award and The People's Award. The retail and leisure centre was created by building a glass roof over Upper Fountaine Street and Cross Fountaine Street to create an arcade between two listed buildings, Permanent House and the Headrow Buildings. New construction on two levels created a first level promenade with a multi-screen cinema. Above the ground floor shops and restaurants are a nightclub and health club. It was designed by DLG Architects. Permanent House and the Headrow Buildings are of the same style in

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...

and brick by Sir Reginald Blomfield and local architect C. W. Atkinson. The Headrow Buildings fronts the Headrow and Permanent House is on the corner with Cookridge Street. The Headrow Buildings have five stepped stages to accommodate the slope of the Headrow and an arch surmounted by Doric columns over Cross Fountaine Street. The height of the cornices was set to match that of Lewis's department store building. It had nine shop units and four floors of offices. Permanent House, which houses the

Radisson Blu Radisson Blu is an international hotel brand managed and operated by Radisson Hotels, and owned by Choice Hotels, Jinjiang International and the Radisson Hotel Group. Founded as the SAS Hotels in 1960, the Radisson Blu brand name came into exi ...

Hotel, was constructed as two linked buildings on Cookridge Street, separated by Upper Fountaine Street which was bridged and the buildings are joined by a carriage arch. The headquarters of the

Leeds Permanent Building Society The Leeds Permanent Building Society was a building society founded in Leeds, England in 1848 and was commonly known in a shortened form as The Leeds or The Perm. It should not be confused with the extant Leeds Building Society (formerly Leeds ...

was opened 15 May 1930 on the corner of Cookridge Street and the Headrow. The north part was opened 31 December 1931 as shops and offices. Browns Restaurant occupies the former banking hall.

Gallery

File:The Light, Leeds (27th May 2010).jpg, Permanent House, corner of Cookridge Street and the Headrow File:Permanent House 24 03 2017 2.jpg, Permanent House, Cookridge Street showing the link and arch File:Permanent House Plaque Headrow.jpg, Blue plaque on Permanent House File:Leeds The Light.jpg, Headrow Buildings entrance to Cross Fountaine Street File:Browns Restaurant Leeds 24 June 2018.jpg, Entrance to Browns and Radisson Blue inside the Light File:The Light, Leeds (4th May 2010).jpg, North entrance from St Anne's Street

References

External links

The Light website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Light, Leeds Shopping centres in Leeds Listed buildings in Leeds Leeds Blue Plaques