Plans to replace 230-bed student block with 600-bed student block

The £40m plans from developer Pickard Properties would see a 604-bed structure built on a site in Carlton Hill, and would replace an existing student accommodation building built by the same developer 23 years ago.

The developers claim the new design provides ‘affordable accommodation with student wellbeing at its heart’.

However, the Leeds Civic Trust has warned against demolishing a ‘comparatively young building’, and suggests looking at how the existing building be ‘re-used’.

Developers claim the building would feature ‘larger than standard bedrooms and living spaces’, as well as three-storey sky gardens to “provide social and common study spaces for clusters of apartments”.

Director of Pickard Properties Miles Pickard said: “It is critical to ensure students have safe and secure spaces, in addition to their own study bedroom”, says Miles Pickard, Director of Pickard properties. “As a Leeds based Developer who specialises in high quality but affordable private residential and student living accommodation, we are delighted to be bringing such a forward thinking scheme to market.

“In addition to these sky gardens, large, fully landscaped roof terraces are provided to give additional ‘fresh air’ spaces as an extension of the extensive landscaped courtyard at ground level. Whilst these spaces create a mixture of natural interactive spaces, the landscaping also provides added pollution absorption, making the site cleaner and healthier to live in.”

The existing student accommodation facility on Carlton hill was built in 1997 and currently holds 237 bed spaces.

A statement from Leeds Civic Trust reads: “We are greatly concerned that a comparatively young building is to be demolished. The sustainability statement does not consider the loss of embodied energy in the existing building in its analysis.

“In this climate emergency, the first assessment of a proposal of this kind is to consider how existing buildings can be re-used, adapted or extended to provide the additional accommodation and improved energy efficiency, and this has not been done.”

A planning decision on the scheme is expected in May of this year with completion on site targeted for the summer of 2022.