As previously reported, the award-winning Build to Rent developer PLATFORM_ has collaborated with renowned international street artist Kid Acne to create a major new landmark for Leeds. The art installation will transform the historic Commercial Inn in the heart of Sweetfields, a significant new 1.3 million sqft neighbourhood on Sweet Street in the South Bank area of Holbeck.
Spearheading the international Street Art movement, Yorkshire-based Kid Acne has exhibited large-scale artworks across the globe for over twenty years, from Rome and Los Angeles to Beijing and Paris. His iconic work has headlined campaigns for some of the world’s leading brands, including Prada, Levi’s and Mercedez-Benz.
Kid Acne’s artwork will breathe new life into The Commercial Inn at Sweetfields, where PLATFORM_ are working to bring this historic venue back into use after many years of neglect. A new landmark for the city, the mural is an important addition to the city’s cultural scene.
Kid Acne explains:
“The mural covers two elevations of The Commercial Inn. The building has a lot of obstacles, which I tried to feed into the composition breakdown to make a lot of those things disappear. When I’m painting on a big scale like this mural, I really try to keep that energy and rawness of the original sketch – that’s the hardest bit.
“The piece marks a tide change for the area – the start of something new and different. All these northern cities, like Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield, are just an hour apart, and there’s a network of artists across them all. For me, projects like this really help to bridge that gap a little more.”
The artwork depicts Kid Acne’s signature ‘spirit animal’ characters, and the words ‘Positive energy activates constant elevation’ run across the mural, which the street artist hopes will resonate with the audience.
“These characters go back to mid-90s. Stylistically, they come from my drawings as a kid, and the headdresses are inspired by Maurice Sendak’s ‘Where The Wild Things Are’. The kids in animal costumes are a way to show different emotions and different temperaments. Each individual character is the size of one of my regular pieces that I paint, so to have that many in a row on the side of The Commercial Inn is really cool. It’s like an army of different personalities from different walks of life.”
Sweetfields in Holbeck will become a 1.3 million sq ft neighbourhood incorporating over 1,350 new homes and 160,000 sq ft of Grade A office and commercial space, set around a new public square. PLATFORM_ and its investment partner Housing Growth Partnership broke ground on Phase 1 of this new destination in 2024. Sweetfields is PLATFORM_’s tenth development and its first mixed-use neighbourhood.
Kid Acne’s mural will occupy the northeast corner of the site and the façade of The Commercial Inn for approximately two years. The Commercial Inn was built between 1831 and 1844 and was the first headquarters of the ASLEF railway union. It was previously owned by Leeds United icon Peter Lorimer.
Jean-Marc Vandevivere, CEO at PLATFORM_ commented:
“Sweetfields is an exciting new development that will transform the local area, and we’re pleased to be working with a world-renowned, Yorkshire-based artist to help bring life back to The Commercial Inn, on what will be such a significant aspect of the site. Close collaboration with Kid Acne and Leeds City Council has enabled us to deliver something iconic to enliven the area while we develop Sweetfields.”
With a masterplan by Leeds-based DLG Architects, Sweetfields will bring a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom BTR apartments to the city from early 2027. Residents will enjoy facilities including a gym, residents’ lounges, co-working space, a private dining suite, and extensive outdoor space and roof terraces incorporating exercise areas, children’s play areas and pet-friendly facilities.
The first phase will include two new office buildings, offering 96,000 sq ft and 45,000 sq ft of space, with average floorplates of 15,000 sq ft, secure underground parking and access to an extensive landscaped campus.
PLATFORM_ is an award-winning investor, developer, operator and asset manager of institutional-quality rental communities across the UK, with a delivered portfolio and pipeline of 4,200 apartments across 12 UK towns and cities. Taking a local approach at all its developments, PLATFORM_ targets that 25% of the businesses it works with at Sweetfields will be Leeds-based. PLATFORM_ is also targeting all its buildings, including Sweetfields, being net zero in operation by 2030.
For further information on Sweetfields, please visit www.sweetfields.co.uk
This post is based on a press release issued on behalf of PLATFORM_
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