South Leeds Life

Beeston’s pioneering eco development – The Greenhouse - has been mentioned in the Houses of Parliament.

Saving the future? A resident of the Greenhouse in Beeston

Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn highlighted The Greenhouse an example of what can be achieved through innovation in sustainable housing, during a House of Commons debate on Leeds city region’s bid for the Green Investment Bank.

Benn held the innovative development and its community up to other MPs as a way of illustrating Leeds leading the way in tackling the CO2 Challenge. The full debate can be found here.

Citu say they always had a long-term vision for the former Shaftesbury House. Commenting at the launch last year, Citu Managing Director Chris Thompson said:

“What we’ve built with Greenhouse is a low carbon development, using the most pioneering techniques that blend technology and nature, to produce a building with sustainability at its core. However, to make Greenhouse succeed what we need to achieve is a sustainable community, not just a low carbon building, and this will come down to the end users who live and work here.”

He said that one on this vision was coming to life as Greenhouse residents have built their own community and now service the Greenhouse Deli, maintain a free bike club, tend to allotments, run the local pub quiz, organise a free-cycle trading club, and have even recently launched the Greenhouse Apart-Hotel.