PROJECT REPORT: HERITAGE & HISTORIC 35
CRUSADER WORKS MANCHESTER
A brighter future
As a celebration of Manchester’s cotton mill past, this major residential scheme by shedkm combines respect for historic fabric with striking minimalist additions to help catalyse regeneration. Stephen Cousins reports.
B
ack in the 19th century, Manchester and the surrounding towns in south and east Lancashire were the largest and most productive cotton spinning centre in the world.
Nicknamed Cottonopolis, this industrial powerhouse was able to fl ourish thanks to the infrastructure and particular geographical layout of the region, with sloping hills and streams that provided the city’s mills and factories with water to drive their processes. Abundant coalfi elds meant that collieries could supply the coal to run steam engines and the digging of canals allowed easy transportation of cotton to UK ports and then across the globe. Fast forward to the Manchester of today, and many cotton mills and associated warehouses still survive, albeit converted and renovated for new uses including commercial or residential premises, to meet the needs of a bustling, modern city. Crusader Works, by architects shedkm who have a local studio, sets a new standard for such adaptations with its strikingly contemporary, yet sensitive regeneration of a collection of cotton mill buildings from the 1840s into new housing. Developer Capital&Centric (C&C) conceived of the 123-home scheme, located in Manchester’s emerging Piccadilly East district, as a catalyst for the wider regeneration of a rundown urban area.
The overarching ambition was to celebrate the listed buildings’ character and avoid invasive penetrations through the historic fabric, which is characterised by original brick and cast iron structures, timber beams and staircases. A key design move was shedkm’s decision to run access corridors along the outer facades of the warehouses, facing onto a new communal courtyard, in contrast to a traditional internal route. These ‘cloisters’ are linked via new steel footbridges to bright yellow cores, which stand as separate architectural elements in the centre of the courtyard.
This design device helps liven up residents’ journey from the street to their fl ats, explains Mark Sidebotham, practice director at shedkm: “I’m really passionate about the journey the resident takes from the pavement to their front door, it’s more important than the experience inside the fl ats themselves. Walking along the cloister, you’re always connected to the courtyard as the main central space, and the upper bridge links afford great views back to the city.” He adds: “It’s a really lovely route to take, not just a generic corridor that could be inside any building.”
The project proved complicated and
costly, due to unexpected issues with existing timbers, the contractor going into administration, and the onset of the
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