Overview

Coming up to Leeds Playhouse from the city centre, the first thing you see is the beautiful colourful facade. If you know me, you know I'm a big fan of colour, so I felt immediately drawn to it. The entrance at street level is actually the entrance to the Front Room Café, with the rest of the Playhouse (box office, performance spaces, bar, etc.) on the upper levels of the building. The café feels bright and spacious thanks to the glass front and high ceiling, but still comfy and cosy with its book nook, comfy chairs, and warm colours. It is a good size, not too big but not cramped either.

Transport & Parking

The bus station is just across the road and there is a level crossing with traffic lights and tactile markings right in front of the café. There are bus stops on Eastgate, for example Victoria (1, 38, 39, 42, 51, 52), and New York Street, for example Cultural H (4, 4F, 16, 16A, 19, 19A, 64) and Cultural G (75, 163, A1 Flyer). There are some paying multi-storey car parks at Victoria and the markets, but if you drive up to Playhouse Square at the top of the hill, you can find some blue badge parking. The café is on the other end of the building, so keep this in mind if distance is an issue. You can then go in via the main entrance and take the lift to floor 1 or 2, turn to right and then take the lift down to the café from the far end of the building or go down the steps or ramps through the green space next to the Playhouse.

Access

There is step-free access from Duke Street/A61 via wide sliding doors taking you through a large entry way around to the right. There is a map of the Playhouse building on the left wall of the entryway. When you enter the café, the counter is on your left, with display cases of cakes and pastries followed by savoury snacks and the register on the far end. The counter is nice and low and communicating felt easy with nothing blocking sight or sound between customer and staff. There is a menu overhead, but the writing is not particularly large and unfortunately there was no large-print menu, but I was told that they would look into getting one. I don't think there's a permanent hearing loop at the café counter, but there are portable hearing loops available from the box office on level 1. (There is a lift and a staircase in the café that can take you up.) There is a mix of seating: medium-sized round tables with moveable chairs with backrests and without armrests, booth-style benches, bar height seating at the window (low backrests) and the back of the booths (no backrests) and armchairs. There are vertical grab rails on the outside of the backs of the booths that can assist you when sitting on the benches or the bar stools at their back.

Toilets

There is an accessible toilet at the back of the café, around the counter on the left. There are more accessible toilets on levels 1, 2 and 3 and a Changing Places toilet on level 2 at the other end of the building. The door opens to the outside. No key is needed to access the bathroom. There is no door opener. The handle on the outside is a lever. There is a handrail on the back of the door and it locks with an extended twist lever. The red cord is to the left of the toilet and the sink. There is a fixed vertical and a horizontal handrail to the right of the toilet that can be lifted and moved out of the way and a fixed horizontal handrail on the wall to the left of the toilet. The flush is a lever. The toilet paper holder is to the left of the toilet. There is space for a left-side transfer transfer. The red cord is to the left of the toilet. There are vertical handrails on either side of the sink. The sink is a small wall-mounted sink and the tap has a short lever. There is a mirror above the sink. There is also a wall-mounted soap dispenser to the right of the sink. There is a hand dryer to the right of the sink. There is a bin on either side of the toilet.

Staff

The staff member I talked to was lovely and really keen to do what they could to make the café accessible. When I asked about alternative formats, they told me about a group of D/deaf regulars who they learned some relevant BSL signs for.

Photos