Work begins on central Wakefield neighbourhood
Wood Street Collection is the name bestowed on a new residential community of 63 homes and public spaces by Fallowdale Homes, the housebuilding arm of Yorkshire developer Rushbond, working in partnership with Wakefield Council.
When completed the Wood Street Collection will consist of heritage restorations and new-builds, as well as new uses for once derelict empty spaces, car parks and land. The aim is for the neighbourhood to reconnect the historic heart of Wakefield.
Wood Street Collection has been designed by architect ShedKM. Fallowdale Homes has appointed Keepsake Construction and Mulberry Construction Group as lead contractors on the scheme.
Mulberry Construction Group is leading on the restoration of the city centre’s former police station which will become one, two and three-bedroom apartments, available to rent, alongside new three-bed townhouses at ‘Gill’s Yard’ – built on the former council-owned car park of the same name, available for purchase. All are due to complete by summer 2025.
Later this month, Keepsake Construction will break ground on the delivery of ‘Gills Mews’, two and three-storey new-build townhouses on the site of the former Rishworth Street car park, which are due to be completed from the end of 2025.
The Wood Street Collection, as it is collectively known, will include a new community garden alongside landscaping to create green space in the heart of the city centre, as well as streetscaping to provide new public spaces and connectivity with the neighbouring amenities.
Rushbond’s local ownerships include the former Crown Court building adjoining the Town Hall and the former Coroners Court on Northgate, both of which will be redeveloped for a variety of uses with further details to be unveiled in due course.
James Dinsley, surveyor in investment and development at Rushbond, said: “It’s been a detailed and intricate process to reach this stage, as we’re working at scale within such an important historic area of the city and it’s a challenge we relish.
“The heritage of the buildings and spaces in-between are imbued with civic stories from Wakefield’s past and the whole team is inspired by the history of the area. Many European cities’ most attractive neighbourhoods are a mix of historic and modern buildings and that’s our ambition for the transformed Civic Quarter.”
Other projects that have advanced in Wakefield include the Kirkgate Innovative Neighbourhood Gateway, which is turning old commercial spaces into new homes and invigorated public spaces, and Wakefield Exchange, transforming the former market hall into a new creative hub, set to open later this year.
Cllr Michael Graham Wakefield Council’s, cabinet member for regeneration and economic growth, said: “It’s great to see the redevelopment work is getting underway at Wood Street in the first stage of creating new homes in an historic part of our city where people can live, work and socialise. The transformation is part of our ambitious regeneration plans to breathe new life into this part of the city centre and to ensure its stunning historic buildings are restored for future generations.”
Elsewhere in the borough, Rushbond announced earlier this year that its Bretton Hall development set in the grounds of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield is set to become the ‘Groucho Bretton’ thanks to a new partnership between Artfarm and the Groucho Club in London, the first time the private members club has opened a permanent location outside the capital.
