It is housed in the former Mechanics' Institute built by Cuthbert Brodrick, in Cookridge Street (now Millennium Square).

In 1862, Philosophical Hall was rebuilt in Park Row, where its stone portico can still be seen on the west side of the road.

The oversized Leeds Tiger, the giant moose skeleton and the carved wooden cart took up much of the space.

It was shot by Colonel Charles Reid in the valley of Deyrah Dhoon near Mussoorie hill station in Uttarakhand, India in March, 1860.

The museum's curator Adrian Norris was quoted in 1979 as saying:[23] The tiger has always been very popular with the public, and school parties in general, and is one of the few items in the Museum we dare not remove, or cover, for fear of being swamped with complaints from members of the public, who in some cases have travelled many hundreds of miles just to see it.

In 2014 this gallery began hosting a long-term exhibition called 'Voices of Asia',[26][27] which celebrates the sights, sounds and culture of Asian communities here in Leeds and around the world.

[28] Leeds Museums & Galleries has large collection of objects from around the world, and Voices of Asia displays just one aspect of the city's holdings.

Since 2019, most are held at Leeds Discovery Centre, which holds representations of North American beadwork, European folk items and the traditional arts of Oceania.

One of the key objects on display is the Malham Pipe, originally identified as an Iron Age flute made from bone, its dating has been revised to the early medieval period.