Royal Armouries Leeds Unveils £188m Masterplan for Leeds Dock

Royal Armouries Leeds reveals a 10-year, £188m investment plan including a new Tiltyard riverside arts and conference venue, complete gallery refurbishment, and placemaking across Leeds Dock

The Royal Armouries Leeds has unveiled Armouries 700, a £188 million, 10-year masterplan to refurbish and redevelop the world’s oldest museum at Leeds Dock. Presented at UKREiiF this week, the programme includes 10 discrete projects within the existing museum building, complementary landscaping works around Leeds Dock, and a major new build on the site of the existing Tiltyard complex. The centrepiece is the transformation of the Tiltyard into a multipurpose riverside arts, events, and conference space with a new connection to the river and green public spaces. The Royal Armouries Leeds has already purchased the freehold of the Tiltyard land from the Canal and Rivers Trust.

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Why This Matters For Leeds

A £188 million investment in a national museum at Leeds Dock directly strengthens the South Bank as a cultural and commercial destination. The Tiltyard adds a venue as a major riverside space for arts, conferences, and events alongside New Dock Hall. For businesses around Leeds Dock, increased footfall from a revitalised national museum means more customers, more events, and a stronger case for further investment in the area.

What the Royal Armouries Leeds Masterplan Includes

The Armouries 700 programme comprises 10 projects. The Tiltyard redevelopment is the most significant — replacing the existing outdoor events space with a mixed cultural, conference, and events venue with river access and new green spaces. A Green Book Outline Business Case for the Tiltyard has been completed, and the project has been identified as a pilot scheme for the Leeds City Fund, which allows the city to retain 100% of business rates growth for 25 years. Inside the museum, plans include a phased complete refurbishment of all galleries and redisplay of the collection, a new centre for learning, a new special exhibitions gallery (already open), a new café bar opening onto Armouries Square, a new dockside entrance improving connections to the city, refurbished conference and commercial spaces, and public access to the upper level of the Hall of Steel for the first time.

“The programme will drive footfall, create jobs and provide a wealth of new and unique cultural and educational opportunities but most importantly, it will create an enormous sense of civic and national pride that the world’s oldest museum is here, that we are a part of it and that we are working together to make sure it is being put to the use of building a happier and more peaceful future.”

— Royal Armouries

The Museum at the Heart of South Bank

The Royal Armouries sits at a pivotal point in the South Bank regeneration. The Tiltyard is named as a nationally significant project within the Mayoral Development Zone announced by Tracy Brabin at UKREiiF. The museum is at Leeds Dock, where the wider estate is currently on the market for £10.75 million following leaseholder administration meaning the area around the museum could see new ownership and investment alongside the Armouries 700 programme. The museum already contributes to the area’s commercial activity through UKREiiF, which uses the Royal Armouries as its main venue for a fifth consecutive year. The Special Exhibitions Gallery, which opened in June 2025 with a £1.3 million conversion supported by The Wolfson Foundation and Garfield Weston Foundation, has proven the model bringing international exhibitions to Leeds for the first time.