Situated at the Northern Quarter of Leeds city centre, behind the Merrion Centre, the arena is being built on the Claypit Lane Council car park and land formerly owned by Leeds Metropolitan University.
Centrally located in West Yorkshire, the Leeds Arena is a £60 million ($91.36 million) world-class music venue with a capacity to accommodate 13,500 people. Featuring a fan-shaped interior, the arena aims at optimising sight lines to focus every seat at centre stage and bring the public closer to the show.
The multi-purpose facility has been designed in such a way where space can be easily modified to meet the changing requirements of a diverse event schedule, which could also include theatre and sports.
The arena is designed with ‘perfect sightlines’ from each seat. The longest distance from the stage will be 68 metres as opposed to 95–110 metres at a traditionally designed arena. According to the City Council, flat floor seating and 15 rows of retractable seating can be removed to create a huge floor area holding thousands of standing spectators. The interior design supports flexibility.
The arena will open in the summer of 2013 with a Bruce Springsteen concert, followed by an opening season featuring Elton John, the Kaiser Chiefs and Micky Flanagan. SMG will undertake the interior fit-out process.
