A Leeds landmark has made a 'bottom 10' of Britain's 'ugliest' buildings.
Bridgewater Place was ranked seventh in a list of UK eyesores by Buildworld. The list is based on the number and proportion of negative design-themed Tweets.
Top of the list was the Scottish Parliament Building in Edinburgh, followed by Newport Station, South Wales and Preston Train Station, Lancashire. Others, in order, are Royal Liverpool Hospital, the M16 Building, on London's South Bank; One Hyde Park, London; Redcar Beacon, Balfron Tower, London and Shankley Hotel, Liverpool.
It's worth noting that less than half of tweets about these buildings criticise them, even the Scottish Parliament which has a 'disapproval score' of 42%. Bridgewater Place has a disapproval score of 12.1%.
Controversial since it was completed in 2007, 112 metre Bridgewater Place earned itself the nickname 'the Dalek', after the baddies in the BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who. As well as creating debate, Bridgewater Place, a mixture of offices and upscale flats, effectively created a wind tunnel on Water Lane and the junction of Water Lane and Neville Street.
In 2008, a pedestrian was blown over suffering internal injuries and scalds from the soup they were carrying. Approximately three years later, a buggy carrying a three-year-old was blown over crossing the busy road into Leeds city centre.
That year, Edward Slaney, 35, was killed when strong winds near Bridgewater Place blew a lorry over and onto him. A 22-year-old woman was seriously injured in the incident.
Water Lane was subsequently closed during high winds until after a scheme to mitigate the high winds, including a canopy, baffles and screens, was completed in 2018.
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