A landmark former newspaper office opened in 1970 by Prince Charles is set to be bulldozed after a demolition order was submitted to the local council.
The Yorkshire Post vacated its old premises at Wellington Street last year when the paper and its sister titles moved to Number 1 Leeds in nearby Whitehall.
The grey concrete building, viewed as a prime example of 1960s brutalist architecture, was dubbed the “bunker” by staff who worked in the huge, windowless newsroom.
Today’s edition of the Post reports that an order for the “demolition of former Yorkshire Post newspaper print works and offices” was submitted to Leeds City Council last week.
The five-storey building, which contains 220,000 square feet of office space, went up for sale last year after the newspapers moved out.
Initially it was suggested that it could become a top class hotel and conference facility or alternatively transformed to create modern offices and shops.
Paul Fox of Fox Lloyd Jones, the agent handling the sale, said: “The site has attracted wide ranging interest for a multitude of uses and we are hopeful of being able to conclude a sale shortly.”
Mr Fox said the demolition application had been submitted to “protect and encourage ongoing discussions.”
The building was designed from 1968-1970 by John Madin, who was the architect of a number of significant buildings in the 1960s, including BBC Pebble Mill studios in Birmingham.
When it was opened in 1970 by Prince Charles, the building housed more than 1,300 staff, but there were only 300 left when the papers vacated the premises.
English Heritage said in February that the building would not be listed, saying that the closure of the printing works on the site had “diminished its ability to demonstrate its original function” and had thereby “impacted on the integrity of the building”.
Helen Oldham, managing director of Johnston Press Yorkshire, confirmed an application to demolish the existing structures on site has been submitted.
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It really was a very grim old building by the end.
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Yes, it was a grim building in some respects, but it was a great one in others. It reflected the standing of Yorkshire Post Newspapers in a way that their current office – several floors up an undistinguished block – sadly fails to do.
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Let’s not get too misty-eyed, eh? It was ugly, uncomfortable and the newsroom – its eyes on Yorkshire and the world – had no windows. Plus, the bogs were usually intolerable.
Some nifty papers turned out there over the years, mind you.
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I sat in the same part of the editorial floor for 30 years. I used to see sunlight for few days each year (in November and February) from a tiny window high up above the corridor to the editor’s office. My wife used to ring me up to tell me about the weather if it started snowing. Sitting on the outside of the YEP side of the editorial hall was not good news in cold weather as the floor was above fresh air.
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Wonder how shabby the current bland offices will look in 40 years. I was always happy to be in a unique newspaper building. Even if it was cold at times and lacked windows, it had character and contained characters!
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Shame. Worked there for over 12 years and came to rather like the place.
Am reminded of a leaving front page done for a colleague who was inordinately fond of female company:
“Women across Leeds will look on the Wellington Street building and think of xxx xxxxx – big, misshapen and ugly, but strangely still one of the city’s favourite erections.”
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