Barrow Market Hall design team picked

Buttress Architects, with masterplanner Open and engineering firm WSP, has been selected to refresh the historic market hall, one of the projects included in the town’s £25m Town Deal.

The trio of firms led by Buttress was appointed following a competitive tender process orchestrated by Barrow Council. The council wants to “re-imagine Barrow Market Hall” – creating a destination for shopping and experiences, with independent traders and local food producers at its heart.

Barrow Market is in the centre of Barrow-in-Furness and is home to around 55 independent businesses. The original covered market was built in 1864 for the Furness Railway Company and was later bought by the local council in 1874.

However, the building is becoming outdated and needs revitalising. Under the plans, the newly appointed team will design a new look for the Market Hall, while the project also includes a new exterior for the market and neighbouring arts and entertainment venue The Forum, a community hub, and public realm improvements to Duke Street and the rear of the market building to help enable better transport connections and events spaces.

The market’s existing ground floor footprint spans 61,000 sq ft and the Forum is 11,000 sq ft. There are upper floors, but they will not be included in the project, according to Buttress.

The Barrow Market Hall upgrade is one of seven projects in the council’s #BrilliantBarrow town centre regeneration programme, which has received £16m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund and £25m of Town Deal funding. As part of the programme, an area behind Barrow Market and The Dock Museum will be overhauled to create an event and entertainment space.

The #BrilliantBarrow Community Hubs project, meanwhile, will locate one of its four hubs to The Forum to provide a home for activities and services for local people.

Work on the market design will get underway immediately, informed by a series of upcoming engagement events with the community and local stakeholders over the coming months, the design team said.

A planning application is expected to be submitted in spring 2023, and it is hoped that the work will be completed by 2025.

Cllr Ann Thomson, leader of Barrow Council, said: “We’re excited to have appointed such a prestigious team, led by Buttress, and look forward to engaging with the community as part of the process.

“We know that the way people use their high street is changing in towns and cities [across] the country and that this change has been further exacerbated by the Covid pandemic.

“There’s no mistaking that this is not simply a refresh of our existing market hall. It’s a much larger, more ambitious project that will herald a new era for the high street in the town.”

Buttress has worked on numerous heritage-led and other schemes in the region, including to bring Manchester’s grade two-listed Mackie Mayor meat market hall back to life.

Open, meanwhile, has previously designed public spaces for example the V&A in Dundee and the £1bn St James quarter in Edinburgh.

Chithra Marsh, Associate Director at Buttress Architects, said: “We’re delighted to have been appointed…to develop the designs for this ambitious project.

“Over the next few months, we’ll be hosting a series of engagement events and workshops and we encourage local people to come along, have their say, and help shape the vision for the market hall.”

Mark Foster, associate at Open, added: “[This is] such an important project and we’re looking forward to creating a vibrant new asset for the town.”