Plans have been approved to transform the former Coroner’s Court on Northgate into a new creative hub, the latest milestone in Rushbond’s impressive regeneration of Wakefield’s Civic Quarter.

The project is being delivered by Yorkshire-based property investment and heritage specialists Rushbond, in partnership with Wakefield Council, as part of a wider programme to restore historic buildings and bring new homes, creative workspaces and cultural activity back into this part of the city centre.

The Grade II listed building, to be known as 71 Northgate, will be converted into a series of flexible studio spaces, for makers, artists and small businesses.

The building sits just 100 metres from Wakefield’s historic former Crown Court, to be known ahead as the Court House, where restoration works are already underway. Together, the two buildings form an important part of the Civic Quarter – an area where historic civic buildings are being restored and brought back into everyday use, with new homes, studios and creative spaces returning life to this part of the city centre.

Within the wider Civic Quarter vision, 71 Northgate will act as the ‘little sister’ to the Court House, providing smaller-scale studio and enterprise space that complements the larger cultural and events uses planned nearby.

Meanwhile, restoration of Wakefield’s Grade II listed former Crown Court continues, with specialist teams working carefully to preserve the building’s historic features as part of its transformation.

Behind the scenes, specialist teams have been carefully stripping back later additions to reveal and, where possible, salvage original architectural details that will be retained as the building is restored. This reflects the careful, considerate approach required when working with historic buildings of this significance and, in this case, a once-in-a-hundred-years restoration.

When complete, the Court House will reopen to the public for the first time in more than three decades, creating a place for people to gather, work, spend time and enjoy the building as part of everyday city life. The revitalised building also will be a completely new interpretation of the local ‘village hall’ for the new residents who will move into the area.

Elsewhere in the Civic Quarter, the transformation of the surrounding neighbourhood is already visible.

The first phase of 63 homes at the Wood Street Collection was completed last year, bringing new homes into the city centre through the restoration of historic buildings alongside contemporary new housing. The development includes the restored police station apartments, townhouses at Gills Yard and the transformation of Wood House – once the police superintendent’s residence – into a four-storey townhouse.

Six months on, the former Wood Street Police Station is now almost 80% let with just seven apartments remaining to rent. Homes to buy on Gills Mews have also recently been released, with three story townhouses on Rishworth Street available now.