16m town hall revamp moves a step closer

18 Mar 2019 01:08
Published by: Daniel Almond

 

THE £16m redevelopment of Rochdale’s grade I listed town hall has taken a major step forward, with the appointment of an award-winning architecture firm to take forward its restoration. 


Donald Insall Associates, whose team have worked on prestigious projects across the country, including the Houses of Parliament, Manchester’s John Rylands Library and the Women’s Suffrage Memorial in Parliament Square, beat off stiff competition to lead the restoration of the treasured building, which is one of the best examples of gothic architecture in the country.

The respected firm will lead a team of specialists who have been commissioned to transform the Victorian town hall, following a successful round one bid to the The National Lottery Heritage Fund (formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund ) for £8.9m.

The project, due for completion in 2023, will restore the famous landmark’s many historic features, including the magna carta mural and ceiling panels in the great hall and its extensive stained glass windows.

The gothic masterpiece, which was once at the heart of civic life in the borough but is now used mainly for functions, will also be brought back into use for the public, with interpretation set to tell the fascinating story of Rochdale and its people.

The old library on the first floor, which was more recently used as office space, will also be restored and re-opened for community use as the new Bright Hall, in honour of prominent industrialists and radical politicians, the Bright family.

A series of access improvements, including the installation of new lifts and toilets, will open up the spectacular space and make it more accessible to the public than ever before.

The appointment comes weeks after global landscape designers, Gillespies, were appointed to lead the £3m redesign of Town Hall Square, which surrounds the town hall.

 

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