A complex of Grade II listed mill buildings in Wakefield transformed into Tileyard North – a 135,000 sq ft creative industries hub, the UK’s largest outside London.

Tileyard North is the final piece in a ten-acre regeneration masterplan that is breathing new life into Wakefield’s waterfront. The project converts a complex of long-derelict Grade II listed mills adjacent to The Hepworth Wakefield gallery into a mixed-use, inclusive, creative, and cultural cluster with world-class facilities. The project is being delivered over two phases.

Phase 1 of the design upgraded four mill buildings, created a new public square, and delivered a substantial piece of public sculpture by reinstating the mill chimney as a lattice structure. Tenants began moving into the workspaces in early 2023, with the former carding shed being used for regular events from December 2022.

Phase 2, which is nearing completion, includes a further three buildings and a further public realm offer. The phase contains complementary uses including a hotel, BREEAM Excellent Grade A workspace, and a restaurant with a riverside pier for outdoor dining over the River Calder. The Levelling Up Fund has supported phase 2, while the restoration of the site’s oldest building, Phoenix Mill, received funding from Historic England.

The project has successfully saved a significant piece of industrial heritage. Prior to the project, the complex of mills – where the last industrial processes ceased in the 1970s – had deteriorated significantly, was highly constrained and contained hazardous materials. However, Hawkins\Brown has managed to retain over 80% of the original building fabric, carefully repairing and re-purposing each space. Materials for the new interventions have been picked to reflect a modern industrial palette and allow for clear legibility between old and new.

The new 135,000 sq ft creative hub offers world-class music studios, higher education, workspace, a 400-capacity event space, a wedding venue, a bistro, and a gin distillery, and will be a home in which regional talent and the local community can thrive.

"It really is tremendous to see our shared vision for this amazing collection of buildings in Wakefield, come to fruition. It has been an epic journey which would not have been possible without the serious commitment of our client, City and Provincial Properties and the unwavering support of Wakefield Council.

Our journey began in 2016 with our clients, Paul Kempe and the Hugh Cave. Together, we looked for inspiration from the best creative communities around the world such as LX Factory Lisbon and Innovation Dock, Rotterdam; we worked hard to connect with creative industries, people and initiatives across the region and to make sure our thinking was rooted in Wakefield and also drew learnings from City and Provincial’s hugely successful Tileyard development in Kings Cross.

The last 8 years have been invested in cleaning the site, uncovering the buildings, peeling back the layers, carefully mending the fabric, working with conservation teams, Historic England, a huge range of talented craftspeople, contractors and suppliers to restore the buildings and breathe new life through programming and storytelling.
In our approach to development and regeneration, we talk of ‘no clean slate’ and here, there is no exception.
We devoted time to looking at the functions of the old buildings to define the programme. Together, we saw the potential for these beautiful buildings to tell the stories of a whole industry of people past. Each building is distinctly different, blessed with its own unique structure and characteristics.

Slim gauge, cast iron structures with lightweight timber floors in the original spinning mills have been reinvented to create well-lit, flexible, modern workspace and teaching environments. Buildings with heavier jack arched construction, historically used for increased loads of manufacturing and processing of textiles have been adapted to suit the music industry with state-of-the-art practice rooms and recording studios. Meanwhile the glorious volume of the old carding shed has lent itself brilliantly to venue end event space, already busily programmed for makers markets and weddings. The sculptural light chimney, reinstated to its original lofty height, expansive public realm and new riverside deck, with the Venetian pizzazz that Hugh Cave often spoke of, all demonstrate the long commitment to raise the stakes in this tale of creative re-use; a wonderful example of shifting mindsets from minimizing abnormals to maximizing the novel."

Katie Tonkinson,
Partner, Head of Studio North