Lumiere (skyscraper)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Lumiere was a planned mixed-use skyscraper project in Leeds, England, on the site of the old Royal Mail sorting office on Wellington Street. It would have had two glass towers: a taller one about 171–172 metres tall with around 55 storeys, and a shorter one about 112 metres tall with around 32–33 storeys. If built, the taller tower would have been the tallest building in Leeds and one of Western Europe’s tallest residential towers.

The scheme was developed by KW Linfoot and Scarborough Development Group and designed by SimpsonHaugh and Partners, with WSP Group handling the structural work and Carillion as main contractor. It would have included about 650 apartments, offices, shops, cafes, a winter garden and other amenities, plus more than 20,000 square feet of retail space and 10,000 square feet of usable office space. The interiors were to be designed by YOO.

Work began with groundwork in 2007 and initial foundations in early 2008. However, on 9 July 2008 the project was put on hold due to the global financial crisis. Later, an extra floor was approved for each tower, bringing the total to about 55 storeys for the taller tower and 33 for the shorter one (adding about 1 metre in height). In February 2009, KW Linfoot went into administration, and in August 2010 the owners announced voluntary liquidation, meaning Lumiere was never built. Investors were protected by an insurance policy.