MANY OF YOU may have noticed the brightly coloured green space in front of the Round Foundry Media Centre, Wonderwood, has been given another refresh courtesy of Jay Cover from artist collective Nous Vous. The blue and white colours of the wooden trees and animals have now been replaced with charcoals and deep reds and greens ready for the winter season. We thought it was worth reminding you how this ‘art-park’, which was originally just a temporary solution to an area of undeveloped land, became a much-loved meeting space and ended up taking on a life of its own, becoming a permanent fixture here:
Wonder – what could be
In 2009, as part of a campaign for Leeds City Council to change perceptions and raise the profile of Holbeck Urban Village, we became part of a project that took on a life of its own and exceeded even our expectations.
As the recession took hold, development and construction sectors were sorely hit and many prospective sites were put on hold. A regeneration area, Leeds City Council were keen to ensure that the growing confidence and changing profile of the area as a hotbed of creative and digital businesses did not falter.
The long term plans for the area included the creation of public spaces where people could sit, meet colleagues, make friends and enjoy one of Leeds’ most historic parts. With that in mind, Leeds City Council, working with its PR company (and ours) Anita Morris Associates Ltd, contracted The Culture Company and Amenity Space to create Wonderwood, which would use an area of our undeveloped land to create a temporary, imaginative, original space for people to enjoy.
Wonder – what happened next
Together, the partners involved raised £10,000 to produce Wonderwood, from a combination of Arts Council England and Leeds City Council budgets and work began to bring this concept to life.
On Friday 29 May 2009, residents and visitors of Holbeck Urban Village woke to find that a ‘Wonderwood’ had appeared on their doorstep. Featuring a perfectly mowed lawn with its own golden tree, pink rabbits, an orange bell tower, surrounded by pretty foliage and colourful deck chairs. The popularity of the space convinced us that it should remain, and since then, Wonderwood has undergone several seasonal refreshes, switching the rabbits for squirrels and the spring pastels for deep autumnal colours, earning it the accolade in the local press as the ‘coolest corner in Leeds’.
Wonder – why we love it
Wonderwood’s has been home to a variety of events from an ‘Urban Gardening Weekend’ to live jazz music and yoga sessions. The beauty and uniqueness of this urban oasis has led to its obvious popularity with residents, workers and visitors alike and we will continue to invest in it to ensure it remains as a meanwhile use for a while to come.
FACT FILE
One of the first ‘pop-up’ uses of stalled sites in the UK, Wonderwood attracted significant attention:
• Chair of CABE Sir John Sorrell used Wonderwood as an illustration of good practice in a presentation he made at Tate Modern. www.tate.org.uk/modern
• It was nominated for a Leeds Architecture Award, www.leedsarchitectureawards.co.uk punching far above its weight alongside £1m projects.
• It appeared on national BBC television news, www.bbc.co.uk/tv in a feature about creative uses of stalled development sites
—
We’d like to thank Jay for the current incarnation of Wonderwood and encourage you all to visit his pop-up shop, ‘Top-up’ in one of our units at111 Water Lane, Holbeck, Leeds, LS11 5WD.
Opening hours vary so email jay@nousvous.eu for an appointment or go to www.topup.tumblr.com