First look inside Channel 4's new national headquarters in Leeds

The windows are being put in and as property agents hail the ‘Channel 4 effect’ on interest for the rest of the office space, it’s almost time for the Majestic to regain its dominant position on the corner of City Square.

The £40m seven-storey office block, which was originally a cinema and more recently a nightclub, is due to be completed in May, after which the fit-out of Channel 4's top three floors will begin.

Speaking to the YEP during a tour of the building, architect Mark Redfern said he was keen for Majestic’s design to pay homage to the building’s past whilst looking forward to its future.

“A lot of the designs have a backstory to them,” he said.

Nods to its origins as a cinema and dance hall in the 1920s include a screen in the triple height foyer, which will frame the office activity behind.

Palm Court, an original circular light-well, is being recreated with a glass dome top at the back of the building, which is being constructed by Sir Robert McAlpine.

Meanwhile bronze spindles which wrap around the windows at the top of Majestic and are designed to stop the building from overheating, were designed to gradually open up, like the opening of a stage curtain onto the square.

Mr Redfern, from DLA Design in Leeds, said: “Reinterpretation is a big theme of this scheme. We’re not feverishly trying to restore everything. It’s about looking at what features it had and how do we reinterpret it and give it a new lease of life.”

The Majestic first opened as a 2,400-seat cinema back in 1922, and has been redesigned and reconfigured to create 66,000 sq ft of office accommodation across seven floors.

The building, which has also been used as a bingo hall and nightclub over the years, has been empty for 14 years and was gutted by a huge fire in 2014.

A challenge for the design team was to create as much light as possible in the Grade II-listed building - reversing how the building was designed as a cinema.