‘Game changing’ Platform wins top property award

Bruntwood’s Platform in Leeds city centre has been acclaimed as having one of the biggest impacts in Yorkshire over the last 12 months at the prestigious Yorkshire Property Awards.

The 13-storey, 120,000 sq ft building above the city’s mainline railway station, was one of three winners of the Game Changer award at the event held at the Rudding Park Hotel, Harrogate, last night.

The Game Changer award was introduced in 2017 to highlight the very best property achievements in Yorkshire. It considers projects or deals which have had a material effect on the surrounding environment or on the market and which show’s excellence in conception, design and execution.

Platform, which launched last November, has set a new standard for workspace in the city and provides collaborative coworking, serviced offices and full floor plates for larger companies, centred around shared facilities including a lounge and a rooftop terrace designed to encourage chance encounters between neighbours.

Following support from Leeds City Council’s Tech Hub Fund, it is also the home to the city’s new tech incubator which has been designed to support startup and growing businesses from the region’s fast-growing digital technology sector.

Platform is already 90 per cent let or under offer having welcomed more than 80 companies in its first seven months, including national law firm Shoosmiths; Mercia Fund Managers, Business Growth Fund, Hudl, Berwins solicitors, Altinet, Hebe Works, LightStart, Rradar and the Big Lottery Fund, with more set to follow in the coming weeks.

Craig Burrow, director of Bruntwood in Leeds, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to have won this award. Platform has been a reinvention of a well-known and prominent Leeds landmark. We knew that we needed to create something memorable and which would be a valuable and impactful addition to our vibrant city centre.

“Expectations of how we would modernise this building were very high and this fantastic accolade reflects a truly dedicated team effort with all our partners making hugely successful contributions to ensure that we could deliver radical change.

“Inside and out, we were determined to make a difference and from the outset envisioned Platform as more than just a workspace. Very quickly we have established it as an exciting hub of diverse activity which benefits both our customers and the wider community.

“It has been a wonderful first year for us at Platform and we look forward to continuing to support Leeds’ continuing drive for growth and success and to make this great city region even greater.”

A large delivery team comprised key partners: DLG Architects; structural engineers, Arup; project management, Richard Boothroyd & Associates; interior designers, SoVibrant; mechanical engineers, MRB; and agents Knight Frank & CBRE.

David Bailey, partner and owner at DLG architects, said: “Platform is an impressive achievement of which we can all be rightly pleased. We were faced with a number of enormous construction challenges, not least redesigning a building over a fully operational train station that sees around 30 million people pass through it every year.

“Together we have turned a vacant eyesore into a truly flexible and modern workplace right in the very centre of this dynamic city, helping to regenerate this key gateway into Leeds. It’s something which has been needed for many years and as a result the Leeds city skyline and physical environment have been permanently improved.”

The other developments recognised as Game Changers were Goole 36 one of Yorkshire’s largest and most high profile industrial/distribution sites and the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham, home to both world-class research and manufacturing organisations, and smaller, emerging companies developing next generation technology.