Words: John Baron
Plans to repair and upgrade parts of the roof at HMP Leeds in Armley have been given the green light by Leeds City Council.
Work at the Grade II Listed building includes improvements to the gatehouse and turrets, old reception, former chapel and the former ‘hangman’s’ house. The roofs are a mixture of pitched slate and lead roofs and flat roofs with both felt and single ply covering.
Most works will replace the finishes on a like-for-like basis in terms of the pitched slate and lead roofing and the single ply flat roofs. The former chapel is proposed as metal sheet roofing, matching the finish of earlier re-roofing works in 2016, which includes the adjacent wings.
A council planner’s report approving the roof works stated:
“The proposals will preserve or enhance the heritage significance of the listed buildings and are justified in terms of security purposes in relation to the operation of the prison.
“The roof repairs being carried out are largely on a like-for-like basis or as enhancements, eg inappropriate art slate replaced with natural slate and inappropriate red ridge tiles replaced with lead detailing. The most significant change is the former chapel, where asbestos slate is proposed to be replaced with a standing seam profiled metal roof as was carried out on the adjacent wings as part of the c2016 re-roofing phase.”
The plans and associated reports can be viewed in full here.
