Tura at Whitehall Riverside
The recently completed Whitehall Riverside (known as Tura) in Leeds finished construction in April 2026. This 500-home Build-to-Rent project features elevated podium gardens with integrated custom planters designed to bring nature up to the shared resident amenity levels. Delivered by Glenbrook Property and funded by Legal & General, the development transforms a prime River Aire location into a vibrant residential and lifestyle quarter.
Deep bronze-finish planter with multi-stem trees and ornamental grasses framing a podium seating zone.
The brief
The podium level sits above an active ground floor on a dense city-centre riverside site, so the planters had to perform structurally at height — managing high winds, safe water drainage and heavy soil loads — while still creating intimate, sheltered micro-climates for residents. Installation access was tight within a phased handover across the 16- and 19-storey concrete-framed towers designed by Sheppard Robson.
Our response
The podium level acts as a private sanctuary above the active ground floor, using heavy-duty structural planters to divide cozy seating zones and walking paths. Integrated metal and composite planters frame the perimeter and core of the terrace, engineered to handle high winds at height while safely managing water drainage. Specially selected multi-stem trees, hardy ornamental grasses and perennial shrubs fill the containers, offering year-round colour and softening the sharp architectural lines of the towers. The layout creates private micro-climates where tenants using the communal lounges and workspaces can step outside for a direct connection to nature. All units were fabricated, craned and installed by our own specialist install teams.
