Bond Court refurbishment works completed

WORK to upgrade and refurbish Bond Court in Leeds city centre has now been completed.

The £90,000 project funded jointly by Leeds City Council and property developers Midland House has seen a programme of works in the area to make it a more attractive space for visitors to the city centre.

The area has been revitalised by the addition of chess boards into the new seating area, and the petanque pitch has been retained.

It is hoped that the work is the first step of a wider refurbishment of Bond Court, which may involve an extension of the granite paving throughout the whole square to complement proposed redevelopments of nearby buildings.

Coun Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council executive board member for development and the economy, said: “This scheme is a good example of how to achieve improvements to the city centre in a testing economic climate through working with the private sector to bring about refurbishments.

“By using really high quality materials in this scheme, we have set the standard for the next phase of the refurbishment of the area.

“Bond Court has the potential to be a real asset for the city centre’s business district and a genuine high quality destination for businesses.”

Jason Stowe, managing director of Leeds-based Wilton Developments, said: “Bond Court is a very important square for the city, being only one of a few office plazas in Leeds where the buildings are not separated from the public space of the square by traffic.

“The Square has so much more to offer its occupants and people using the Square, which we feel with a little investment can be realised. It is our intention to encourage other owners and occupiers to embrace the Square rather than backing on to it. As a forward thinking investor, Midland House see the advantage of investing private monies in to publicly owned space for the benefit of all.”

Groundwork Leeds were appointed as the landscape architects and the main contractor was Landscape Engineering.