Victoria Gate

The £165 million scheme, adjacent to Hammerson’s Victoria Quarter arcade, forms part of the new 53,400m² Victoria Leeds shopping destination. This has created the largest premium retail and leisure venue in Northern England moving Leeds up to third in the UK’s best place to shop retail rankings (Javelin). Designed by architects Acme, the development provides Leeds with a 21^st century retail arcade and is an exceptional addition to the city’s rich merchandising and textile history. Its striking façade takes inspiration from the surrounding architecture of Leeds’ historic buildings and uses a mixture of white terracotta and red bricks which were manufactured in Yorkshire and Staffordshire. The scheme is anchored by a flagship John Lewis store, which is the first in Leeds and the largest outside of London with Victoria Gate’s two street arcade also boasting 30 new retail brands and restaurants, as well as a casino.

Having comprehensively regenerated a substantial part of Leeds that had been underutilised for some time, Victoria Gate has delivered over 1,500 employment opportunities in retail, hospitality and construction (522 new construction jobs and over 1,000 retail and leisure roles). The scheme had diverted 98% of construction and demolition waste from landfill. Victoria Gate retail development, opened Autumn 2016, features a 21st century-inspired retail arcade, which builds on the city’s arcade history, featuring up to 30 stores, restaurants, cafes, a casino and multi-storey car park for up to 800 cars.

The piling process was essential to the delivery of Victoria Gate, as it's deep foundations enable the arcade and John Lewis building to be supported. To support the John Lewis building 410 piles were required to be filled with concrete and in mid July 2016, piling for the arcade commenced with 503 piles. The depth of the piling shafts for the foundations total 12,000m, the equivalent of 30 running tracks and over 5,000m³ of concrete was poured into the piles – enough to fill two Olympic size swimming pools.