Munro House

Munro House is a building in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, situated at the corner of Duke Street and York Street.

Munro House,Leeds,October2011
Munro House in 2011.

History

Originally called Union House, during the 1930s the building housed The United Yeast Co. Ltd, yeast merchants.[1]

The ground floor was occupied by Walter Wraggs motor cycle dealers during the 1960s and 1970s and at that time much of the rest of the building was used by the tailoring industry.[2]

During the 1990s and 2000s the building contained Ad Trader, Ad Trader (Yorkshire), and Yorkshire Auto Trader's offices. It was also the location for a number of other small businesses and charities.

The area surrounding Munro House is now known as modern Leeds' Cultural Centre.[3] Following the redevelopment of Quarry Hill and the construction of The West Yorkshire Playhouse, St Peter's Square became home to BBC Yorkshire, Leeds College of Music, Northern Ballet, Yorkshire Dance and The Wardrobe. It is also unofficially known as the 'Arts Quarter'.

Current

From 2011 until September 2022[4] the ground floor was home Café 164, an independent bakery and coffee shop with outlets on Woodhouse Lane and in Headingley [5][6] its last trading day was Friday 26 August 2022, they have now moved their main operations to Headingley.[7]

A view of the front of a building with large windows and neon signs with light streams from a long exposure shot.
Café 164 and The Gallery at 164, December 2019

At the south corner of the building was Leeds Gallery, an independent commercial art gallery.,[8][9][10][11] the gallery changed its name to The Gallery at 164,[12] but never reopened after COVID-19. Next door was Colours May Vary, an independent book shop, which moved to a new location in the Corn Exchange in 2021[13] - this space is now occupied by an office of La Marzocco, the Italian coffee machine manufacturer. Sarto, a pasta restaurant, is on the St Peter's Square side.

On the first floor is Engage Interactive, a digital agency. On the top floor are Magpie, a communications agency, ODI Leeds a node of the Open Data Institute and The Data City

Munro House, January 2021

References

  1. ^ Department, Leeds City Engineers'. "Beck Covering, Lady Beck, York Street". www.leodis.net.
  2. ^ Leeds Library and Information Services, D. Sheard. "Duke Street, Munro House". www.leodis.org.
  3. ^ "BBC - Leeds Features - Quarry Hill history". www.bbc.co.uk.
  4. ^ "Leeds bakery and coffee shop announces closure after 11 years of trading". www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk. 23 August 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Opportunity knocks with Cafe 164 set to open new premises in Headingley in Leeds -". 9 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Review: Cafe 164, Munro House, Leeds". www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Cafe 164 at Munro House - End of an era". Leeds Indie Food. 24 August 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Photographer's exhibition in city". 14 September 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  9. ^ "The Gallery at Munro House". Time Out Leeds. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  10. ^ Naylor, Tony (12 September 2017). "The alt city guide to Leeds". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Terry O'Neill's exhibition opens in Leeds". BBC News. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Gallery at 164, Leeds UK | Independent Life". Archived from the original on 5 February 2021.
  13. ^ "We Have Moved!". Colours May Vary. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
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53°47′49″N 1°32′02″W / 53.796823°N 1.533896°W / 53.796823; -1.533896