Background

Victoria Gate is Leeds’ latest shopping and leisure destination. The £165 million development offers visitors a new shopping experience, with an abundance of shops, cafes and restaurants for callers to enjoy.

Marshalls were approached by London based Architects ACME in early 2015 to discuss the supply of multiple shades of grey granite for Victoria Gate’s original flooring plan. Following a series of meetings and discussions, Marshalls were able to achieve the vision of the project designer, providing a blend of 13 precision-cut granites all complying with the relevant performance criteria, and delivered by Marshalls’ managed supply chain.

A first visit to the production facilities in China back in September 2015 with the main contractor McAlpines, architects ACME and sub-contractor Andrews Tiles identified the sources of granite, and also the acceptable degree of shading and mineral inclusion with each of the 13 colours. The outcome of the trip concluded the selection of granites, the surface textures, the acceptable limits of colour variation and clarity on dimensional tolerance for the units.

Approach

Given the tight timescale of the build and installation, the client requested that the whole 3000m2 be dry laid in China and inspected by the architects prior to despatch, so in November 2015, the same team returned to China to inspect the full amount of material ordered for the project.

Over a two day period each unit was meticulously inspected, approved or rejected, and passed for packing to be despatched to the UK in December 2015. The upshot of this investment before despatch gave the client, contractor and installer complete confidence in the materials, and also gave them the opportunity to visualise the design in 1:1 scale in preparation for the installation which commenced in February 2016.

Outcome

The scheme was ultimately delivered over a period of 5 months including 3000m2 of polished granites and specialist bespoke granite staircase features.

The end result is undeniably spectacular, with the eye-catching herringbone design complementing the project’s bold store fronts and diamond panelled roof.