SOYO | Quarry Hill Masterplan

A transformational new residential neighbourhood on the site of Europe's largest social housing project.

Project summary

  • Client: Caddick Construction
  • Location: Leeds
  • Sector: Masterplanning / Residential & BTR
  • Status: Phase 1 & 2 Complete

Awards

  • Building Awards UKResidential Project of the Year | Phase 1 - Finalist | 2023
  • INSIDER MEDIA PROPERTY AWARDSResidential Project of the Year | Phase 1 - Winner | 2023
  • CONSTRUCTING EXCELLENCE AWARDS [NORTH]Project of the Year | Phase 1 - Winner | 2023
  • CONSTRUCTING EXCELLENCE AWARDS [NORTH]Best Residential Project | Phase 1 - Winner | 2023

Story

Built in the 1930s and once famous for the largest social housing scheme in the UK, the site has been home to a number of cultural names since the estate’s demolition in the 1970s, including the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds College of Music and the Northern Ballet. Now, the regeneration of this site continues with an extensive, ambitious new masterplan, the first stages of which – New York Square – was completed in 2022.

Since winning the project in competition over ten years ago, DLG Architects have been working collaboratively with developer Caddick and a creative design team, including landscape designers Re-form, to develop a set of proposals which regenerate this landmark site, offering a transformational, mixed use, public-realm led masterplan.

History

Quarry Hill was historically an island site, surrounded by infrastructure, isolated by roads and disconnected from its surroundings by the Eastgate roundabout and New York Road to the north. Since the demolition of the former multi-storey estate the regeneration of the site has been undertaken in stages, firstly by the cultural institutions and businesses which now make Quarry Hill their home. This next stage, spurred on by continuing surrounding development, marks the next chapter in Quarry Hill’s regeneration – SOYO.

The challenge: a history of disconnect

In 2004, DLG Architects won the national design competition to produce a new masterplan for the site. Led by Partner Andrew Gardner, the DLG team’s winning entry imagined a multi-building cluster of residential-led, mixed use towers flanking a central boulevard linking the existing and retained buildings on site to the new, and though to the historic thoroughfare of the Headrow. The processional route would link the several new and existing buildings across different levels through an exemplary new public space, making the formerly islolated site open, accessible and inviting.

A model of Quarry Hill | 1934 © RIBA Collections
Quarry Hill | 1939 ©Leeds Library & Information Service
Quarry Hill | 1939 ©Leeds Library & Information Service

Our solution: a connected masterplan

The vision for SOYO is one of connectivity and cultural identity. The masterplan is arranged around six building zones which will accommodate a large range of uses; this phase includes over 500 private rented sector apartments for Moda Living and an extensive landscaping scheme. The establishment of key physical connections between existing routes and places, and the embedding of a coherent spatial identity to the site are at the heart of our design.

SOYO Masterplan
Central Boulevard, SOYO