The building is 100 metres from Wakefield’s former Crown Court, to be known ahead as the Court House, where restoration works are already underway.

Together, the two buildings are a key 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.

Harry Braid, development surveyor at Rushbond said: “The Court House is set to become Wakefield’s most vibrant new destination.

“It will be a place where everyone belongs – from designers, local radio hosts, independent businesses – all collaborating in the studios; to families enjoying live theatre, music and markets in the Village Hall, all while sharing incredible food and drink.

“The opportunity to breathe new life into this historic space, together with 71 Northgate is incredibly exciting.”

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 to preserve the building’s features as part of its transformation.

When complete, the Court House will reopen to the public for the first time in more than three decades.

Jonathan Maud, founder and chairman of Rushbond, added: “Wakefield has some remarkable historic buildings and they deserve to be restored with care, patience and high standards of design and craftsmanship.

“Projects like the Court House and 71 Northgate are not everyday developments, they are once-in-a-generation opportunities to find sustainable new uses from buildings that have played an important role in the life of the city and aim to do so in the future.

“Our shared ambition for the Civic Quarter is to create something genuinely best in class in terms of build quality, design and the way these historic spaces are used by everyone in the community.

“Wakefield deserves that level of attention and ambition, and we hope these projects help lift expectations for what is possible in this part of the city centre.”

Elsewhere in the Civic Quarter, the first phase of 63 homes at the Wood Street Collection was completed last year.

It has brought more homes into the city centre through restoration of older buildings alongside contemporary new housing.

This includes the restored police station apartments, townhouses at Gills Yard and 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 per cent let. Homes to buy on Gills Mews have recently been released, with three-storey townhouses on Rishworth Street available now.

For more information and the source, visit: Consent secured to turn former coroner's court into creative hub | TheBusinessDesk.com