Although Leeds in West Yorkshire has many architectural gems if asked to name one iconic building in or near the city centre I suspect that most people would come up with one of three choices – the Corn Exchange, the Town Hall, or the Parkinson Building.

There may be quite a few votes for Kirkgate market, the Civic Hall or even Bridgewater Place (which in my opinion is a blot on the landscape) but those first three are instantly recognisable as being Leeds landmarks.

To me the Parkinson Building – part of Leeds University – is the one building that says “This is Leeds”. Strangely enough many people who recognise it don’t actually know what it is called (I didn’t know the name of the building myself until arranging an evening out to photograph it). This however is one reason why I think it beats the other candidates to the top of the list – if most people can recognise it without actually knowing what it is called then it must be really striking.

The Parkinson Building, named after Frank Parkinson, is 57 metres tall and is a Grade II listed building. A detailed description of the building can be found on its Wikipedia page.