THING OF THE WEEK
STADIUM… This week saw Saudi Arabia’s controversial bid for the 2034 World Cup endorsed by the FA and while not everyone is happy about that, the tournament has provided an exciting opportunity for one North West-based architecture practice.
AFL Architects has been appointed to design one of 11 stadia that will need to be constructed over the next decade in order for the tournament to take place. The King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) Stadium in Jeddah will hold 45,700 fans and its design takes inspiration from “the heat-resilient super-coral in the Red Sea”, according to the architect.
Work to revamp Ellesmere Port Market is underway. Credit: via CWAC
FLEAS… After a competition was held to decide on the name for Ellesmere Port Market’s new event space, the public decided that change is bad and opted to keep the old one. As a result, the new name of Ellesmere Port’s Flea Market is… Flea Market. The name secured 35% of the vote, with The Market Social, The Market Space, and The Market Warehouse being less popular. Cheshire West and Chester Council has learned a valuable lesson from this largely pointless process: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Credit: Bob Bonner via Civic Heritage
BURIED TREASURE… The team currently carrying out an archaeological dig as part of the regeneration of Prestwich are inviting history buffs to come and have a look at some buried treasure. Civic Heritage has been hard at work with its small chisels and tiny brushes and is about to unearth a fire station – or at least the remains of one. Currently hidden beneath a carpark to the east of Prestwich town centre, Fairfax Road fire station is thought to have been built in the 1890s, Civic Heritage said.
The dig forms part of the enabling works for the first phase of Muse and Bury Council’s £100m regeneration of the town. In another 130 years, archaeologist robots might be inviting residents of Prestwich to come and have a look at the foundations of the former Gail’s Bakery.
LIV LETTER… As part of a series looking at why it chose to set up offices in certain locations, landscape architect Planit has released its love letter to Liverpool. Exploring the idea of “Liverpoolness”, the episode takes viewers on a journey along the city’s waterfront from Festival Gardens all the way up to Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. It is worth a watch. If you get nothing else out of it, you will at least be lulled into a state of calm by the dulcet tones of Planit’s Danny Marsh.
The phone boxes are in desperate need of some TLC. Credit: via Limitless PR
BOXED OFF… Preston’s row of red telephone boxes is being removed. But enthusiasts of archaic, quintessentially British means of communication need not worry; they will be back. Telephone box restoration specialists L Carr Contractors have begun the removal of the kiosks for sandblasting and restoration to their original condition. Once the restoration is complete, the boxes will be returned to their location outside the former post office on Market Street for the spring of 2025.
