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Bolton Market Hall Redevelopment

Victorian Building in England design by Van Heyningen & Haward Architects

24 Aug 2009

Bolton Market Hall

Redevelopment of a Victorian Building

Design: Van Heyningen & Haward, Architects

Bolton Market Hall photos © Nick Kane

The Market Hall in Bolton was built in 1855, being modified over the years to remain relevant to changing retail demands. The Market Place shopping centre was built adjacent to the Hall, in the late 1980s, and then the Hall was converted to accommodate small kiosk shop units, leased back to and managed the Council. By 2003, when Warner Estate purchased the Market Place, Bolton’s retail core was in need of regeneration and the Market Hall was having a negative effect on the town centre streets and the adjoining Market Place shopping centre.

The brief was to achieve a commercially viable scheme of high quality, within the constraints of the listed fabric.

The design approach exploits the large internal spaces to accommodate the modern format units, including two substantial anchor tenants, and revitalises the perimeter shop units by providing proper servicing arrangements and restored elevations. The project needed two levels to be viable and work with the Market Place.

The Grade II listed status of the building, and its importance within Boltonians’ affections, meant that the proposals needed to be very well considered to achieve Planning and Listed Building Consents. The evolving proposals were reviewed frequently with English Heritage, the Conservation Officer and Members. We worked closely with the Council and undertook an number of community engagement initiatives with local schools and the university. The introduction of a wide central mall and set backs at the upper levels ensure that the glories of the roof remain the strongest experience of the interior.

Work to the Market Hall was carried out with specific regard to minimising disruption for the existing tenants and public.

The finishes to the mall are chosen for their solidity and visual simplicity, with terracotta-clad walls acting as a ‘buffer’ between the colourful cast iron structure and the shopfronts’ vitality. The limestone floor provides a simple backdrop akin to the original sandstone floor of the Hall.

The new insertions have an innovation composite timber and steel structure to minimise dead weight and structural depth. The details ensure that the historic fabric is encapsulated but not removed, and allows for reversibility.

Within the constraints of the listed fabric, the primary focus has been on reducing energy demand. The servicing strategy uses minimal energy to temper the mall spaces, using natural ventilation and daylight, with very low input floor heating. The central plant provides efficient heating and cooling to all tenant units via heat exchangers, with the waste heat powering the floor heating whenever possible.