Nu repurposes empty Huddersfield department store

Leeds-based Nu Construction has been given a January start date for the £7m conversion of an empty department store in Huddersfield into a cinema and bowling alley.WD (Kingsgate) Limited, the owner of Huddersfield’s Kingsgate Shopping Centre, is revamping the old House of Fraser store to create two floors for leisure use including a bowling alley with bars and restaurants at ground floor and a six-screen cinema above.It has agreed a 25-year lease with independent cinema chain The Light.Nu Construction is main contractor for the scheme, working with consulting engineer JPG and quantity surveyor Richard Boothroyd Associates (RBA).JPG has reviewed plans for the site and assisted with feasibility and costings with a detailed design review, producing what it calls “a significantly value-engineered solution”.Specialist consultant MZA Acoustics helped out.JPG Group has recently completed work on a new £8.5m, six-screen Savoy cinema complex in Doncaster, working alongside Lindum Construction and The Harris Partnership.It also provided engineering design for the Spirit of Sittingbourne regeneration project in Kent, which includes an eight screen Light cinema, leisure units and a 63-room Travelodge.Other cinema projects completed by JPG include the £25 million, 11-screen Empire cinema complex in Catterick, and the cinema element of the wider £40m Broad Street Plaza development in Halifax.