Bradford city centre. — Bradford Heritage Action Zone shines a spotlight on the city's distinctive heritage. © Bradford Council

Bradford Heritage Action Zone shines a spotlight on the city's distinctive heritage. © Bradford Council

Bradford Heritage Action Zone

To support Bradford as 2025 UK City of Culture, a Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) is exploring and celebrating the city's rich heritage.

Recognising Bradford as the UK's youngest city, young people are central to decision-making for the HAZ. Established community groups, such as the Bradford Civic Society, are also key partners.

Bradford has a remarkable history of transformation from a small market town to the woollen textile capital of the world. Works planned for the HAZ will preserve and repurpose the grand Victorian buildings that played a vital role in this story. One of Bradford's oldest streets, Ivegate, will also be part of the scheme. Focusing on its historic heart, the HAZ will help the city's historic centre find new purpose in today's changing landscape.

Aims of the Bradford HAZ

The HAZ aims to:

Contribute to sustainable economic growth
Strengthen community bonds and involvement of communities in the shaping of their city, and in cultural activity in the HAZ area
Drive high-quality design and reuse of historic buildings
Address climate and environmental challenges through heritage-led solutions
Enable capital projects that reimagine Bradford's cultural and heritage assets
Contribute to making the city centre a safer place for people to live, work, learn and play
Deliver cultural activities that attract visitors from Bradford district and far beyond

Map of the centre of Bradford showing the boundary of the Bradford Heritage Action Zone as a dotted line, and an area shaded orange within it marked as Property Grant Scheme. A street highlighted in green is marked in the key as Ivegate.

Map showing the areas included in the Bradford Heritage Action Zone © Bradford Council

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Map key: the Heritage Action Zone boundary is marked by a dotted line; the property grant scheme area is marked with orange shading; Ivegate is indicated with a green line

How is the HAZ going to help?

The Bradford Heritage Action Zone will transform the city's historic core through 3 complementary strands:

1. Physical interventions

Physical works to historic buildings, restoring and repurposing them to create vibrant new spaces:

Property improvement grants: funding to help property owners in the HAZ area restore building facades and bring vacant space back into use
Design guidance: creating specific advice for heritage buildings, including addressing climate change challenges
Viability studies: professional assessments to find sustainable new uses for key historic buildings
City Hall masterplan: balancing conservation with the needs of a high-functioning public building
Public realm improvements: enhancing streets and spaces, particularly focusing on Ivegate

Gallery of historic buildings in the HAZ area

Please click on the gallery images to enlarge.

2. Cultural programme

Cultural activities and events celebrating Bradford's diverse history and its importance to local communities:

Collaborative interventions with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture
Residence programme: artists working with local communities to explore Bradford's heritage
Change Space project: creating child-friendly interventions and playable spaces in the city centre
Community-led cultural events: celebrating Bradford's diverse stories and histories
Heritage skills development: training opportunities in traditional building crafts

3. Community engagement

Community involvement where local people play a key role in shaping the future of their historic areas:

Youth panel: young creative thinkers from Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture's Youth Panel will shape the HAZ cultural programme
Community groups and organisations such as Bradford Civic Society will contribute to decision-making for physical interventions
Listings project: community volunteers will play a key role in enriching listings in support of Historic England’s ‘Missing Pieces’ Project.

The HAZ seeks to be truly Bradfordian and to champion community voices throughout its development stages and activities.

Pupils outside Bradford's Grade I listed City Hall, one of the city's grand Victorian buildings that will find a new purpose as part of the Bradford Heritage Action Zone scheme © Historic England

Diverse community voices will be at the heart of shaping, delivering, and evaluating the Bradford City Centre HAZ. Bradford’s diverse communities will benefit from the Bradford City Centre HAZ.

Bradford HAZ Community Statement

Stay up to date

We will share regular updates on the Bradford Heritage Action Zone through:

Bradford Council HAZ webpage
Bradford Council Facebook and Instagram pages
Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture social media channels
Local press and media
Community newsletters
Public events and exhibitions

Branding for the new Bradford Heritage Action Zone.

Contact

Bradford Council: BradfordHAZ@bradford.gov.uk

For more information about Heritage Action Zones across England, visit historicengland.org.uk/haz