An interesting story coming out of Leeds is ruffling the architectural world: the tragic death of a man and serious injury of a woman when a lorry blew over in Neville Street by the river Aire. We've had news reports; now there's likely to be analysis within the profession about the possible 'wind tunnel' effect of tall buildings in city centres.
The accident happened right outside Bridgewater Place, the so-called 'Dalek' whose Dr Who-ish bulk is the tallest building in Leeds at 32 storeys (plus a New York spike on top which has yet to be added). People working nearby are well familiar with sudden gusts which didn't seem as frequent when the tallest structures nearby were the wonderful Italianate chimneys at Colonel Harding's old textile pin factory (they're based respectively on Giotto's campanile in Florence, the Lamberti tower in Verona and the towers of San Gimignano.
The front doors leading to Bridgewater Place's ground floor even have to be locked against the wind on occasions, and 13ft high windbreaks are being considered. Leeds' windy-city reputation is a lot older than that, mind. I've played boules in Bond Court, surrounded by tower blocks, in conditions which made throwing the heavy metal balls a lottery. And I'm even old enough to remember being blown through the Merrion Centre as an excited teenager ("Our very first mall, wow") before they roofed its passageway over.
Architects subject these buildings to wind tests and Bridgewater Place passed the one it was given, along with all related planning conditions. But how do the tests work? And can a wind tunnel or model really check such massive developments effectively? Maybe one of our cities with a few empty blocks of flats could hire out an area as an actual, rather than theoretical, test bed. Meanwhle Leeds city council promises urgent further checks.
