Leeds Playhouse

Leeds Playhouse's award-winning façade is one of the most vivid expressions of handmade ceramic in recent British architecture: 200 large tiles in 16 different colours, their three-dimensional surface shifting with the light throughout the day. Page\Park Architects brought a clarity of vision to this project that is rare: the choice of ceramic was deeply considered, rooted in Leeds's own strong tradition of ceramic and faience, and the plasticity of the material was used with real intelligence to create a façade that does something flat cladding simply cannot.

What made this project exceptional was the quality of the collaboration. Page\Park engaged our team from the earliest design stages - open, ongoing conversations about colour, shape, installation, and possibility - and that trust produced something neither party could have achieved alone. It is the kind of thoughtful, craft-conscious practice that we most enjoy working with, and Leeds Playhouse stands as one of our proudest collaborations.

The result is a building whose exterior feels genuinely alive - bold, locally grounded, and crafted with the same centuries-old skills that Darwen has been known for since the end of the 19th century.

Read more about the collaboration in Page\Park's own words - https://pagepark.co.uk/article/collaborating-with-darwen-terracotta/