Greenhouse, Leeds

The Greenhouse represents an amazing transformation and re-purposing of a run-down 1930s common lodging house. Working to a brief drawn up by developers CITU Eco Modern Living, Thomasons’ revitalised the old building giving it a new lease of life as 172 new apartment homes.

Loading issues were addressed through a novel solution that allowed an additional two floors to be added to the existing five storey load-bearing brick structure. A new central six storey reinforced concrete core was also added in the existing courtyard to create more residential space.

The sustainability solutions for the residential units enabled them to achieve Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes. At Building magazine’s 2010 Sustainability Awards, Greenhouse was declared the 2010 Sustainable Refurbishment Project of the Year. The project also won a Bronze Award in the ‘Building of the Year’ category for architects, West & Machell, at the RIBA Yorkshire White Rose Awards.