Huddersfield town centre is in for a “once in a generation-scale of change” as elements of Our Cultural Heart count down to a summer 2026 opening.
The project is made up of five phases that are gradually transforming the Piazza area of the town. The first phase, which covers a food hall, library and public square, is shaping up and preparing to open next summer.
The council says it is in advanced talks with its preferred food hall operator, hoping to have reached an agreement by the end of this year or early next year.
During a sneak peek behind the scenes on Thursday, 18 September as Phase One progresses, Kirklees Council’s Service Director for Regeneration, David Wildman, said the project is currently in a “great place”. He said the biggest challenge so far has been dealing with the “unknown unknowns” that arise when working on complex heritage buildings, like finding more asbestos than anticipated.
Image: Abigail Marlow
Looking further ahead, the scheme’s second phase covers a museum and gallery, with these facilities to be co-located in the town’s former library building at Princess Alexandra Walk. At the moment, work on this part of the site is focused around asbestos removal and surveys.
After a recent rejig, Phase Three refers to an urban park. Phases Four and Five – the Queen Street plot, and venue and car park, respectively – are currently in review.
In the case of Queen Street, a car park, hotel, offices, or residential development are the potential uses being considered for the site. As for Phase Five, initial findings of the review show support for a “flexible, multi-purpose venue”, with a capacity of 1,200 when fully seated and 2,000 using a standing floor and seated balcony. The same can’t be said for an in-built car park, which no longer appears to be a viable option.
While the plans have changed somewhat, Mr Wildman said the scheme was always designed to change and evolve. The principle of bringing all of these areas back into use to support Huddersfield still very much underpins the project.
Commenting on what the development will mean for the future of the town, Mr Wildman said: “I think this is a flagship regeneration, once in a lifetime change for the town. Huddersfield, like lots of towns across the country, have kind of lost their reason for being and you’ve got to move away from that traditional ‘it’s about shopping, it’s about this’. They’ve got to become places of multi-functionality that will work for different parts of the community. You’ve got to give people interesting reasons to come in.
“So, that move to leisure, entertainment, culture, fun that works for everybody from families, to younger people, to older people, so I think this is part of re-establishing an identity for Huddersfield – culture right at the front of that but leisure and entertainment being really key to bringing people back into the town. I think it will help bring the town back to life and that’s what we need.”
Taking into account the other projects that are shaping the town centre, including the Transpennine Route Upgrade, Northumberland
Image: Abigail Marlow.
Street market, George Hotel and investment in streets and highways, Mr Wildman described the level of transformation Huddersfield is undergoing as a “once in a generation scale of change”. He said this will make the town a better place to live, work, visit, invest in and learn.
We also asked Mr Wildman whether he stands by the council’s approach to regeneration given that the council has previously come under fire for being too ‘Huddersfield-centric’. He said: “I think obviously Huddersfield needs regeneration, it’s the district centre, but the benefits of the Cultural Heart go beyond just Huddersfield. It is a district-wide regeneration project. This is to benefit the people of Huddersfield, the people of Kirklees and beyond. A big part of this is bringing visitors in that then spend in Huddersfield and spend in the district but there is also a lot of investment happening elsewhere.
“There’s a big programme of investment happening in Dewsbury, as there are in other parts of the district so Huddersfield needs investment but investment across the rest of the district is important as well.”
After her visit to the site, MP for Huddersfield, Harpreet Uppal, took to social media and said: “Brilliant to pop down to our Cultural Heart to see the brilliant work under way. The food hall is making progress and I can’t way to see it when it’s completed. Huge credit must go to the construction and project teams. This will make a huge difference to our town centre.”
