New York House on Harper Street, Leeds is an exciting new office space housing various different businesses in a convenient location in the heart of the city.
The Victorian architecture on Harper Street dates back to the 19th Century. Buildings, previously used as warehouses, bazaars and industrial buildings have now been transformed into modern office spaces, shops and bars. It is also still the site of the famous Leeds Markets.
New York House is a 19th-century Victorian red brick building that was previously used as a warehouse and industrial space.
Our brief was to create a trendy, contemporary, loft-style office that would be suitable for open plan working, whilst also providing essential private space for single offices, staff and client meetings as well as a communal bar and hang-out area. It was important to create a space that was suitable as a modern work environment, whilst also retaining and restoring many of the original period features of the building.
The office was set on the third floor of the building; as there was no lift installed, we manually transferred all of the materials needed for the renovation using the building’s staircase.
Many of the brickwork walls inside had been plastered over by previous occupants. To preserve this feature, we carefully cut back the plaster to expose the original Victorian brickwork, restoring the original character of the space.
The exposed beams are part of the original structure of the building, with reclaimed timber used for any parts of the renovation requiring wooden structure in order to blend in with the existing woodwork.
In keeping with the industrial origins of the building, we used unusual reclaimed, hard-wearing gym flooring. We also installed visible duct air conditioning which runs through the open loft space.
A private office was created on a mezzanine floor level, will floor to ceiling square, iron-framed windows fitted to ensure it wasn’t completely closed off from the open-plan lower floors. The windows achieved a view over the lower office space and directly onto the striking original industrial iron wheels located over the eaves.
RCE services installed all lighting, electrics, a state of the art fire alarm system, air conditioning and flooring.
The entire refit was completed in just 8 weeks.
