HOME Arches conservation, Manchester
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Summary
Transforming a trio of railway arches into a talent development centre for Manchester City Council
Our HOME Arches project transformed three heritage railway arches into a talent development centre for artists of all ages, disciplines, and stages of their careers.
Located between the impressive HOME main arts centre building and Whitworth Street West, in the heart of Manchester City Centre, the three interconnected and fully accessible spaces have become a cultural landmark for creativity and artistic expression.
A HOME for artists in Manchester City Centre
With five cinema screens, two theatres and an art gallery, HOME is an open and social space for the city's communities, celebrating local and international artists and their work.
Alongside their arts programme they have some of the best social spaces in Manchester, encompassing a cafe, bar, roof terrace, restaurant, and cinema bar.
Our HOME Arches project perfectly complemented their ambition to "push the boundaries of form and technology [and] to experiment", with this new and exciting space that is helping to nurture, attract, and retain creative talent in Manchester by providing high-quality, low-cost rehearsal and training space.
Arch 1 has been transformed into a flexible workspace for work with young people. Large enough to host up to 25 young people and a facilitator at any one time, youngsters have the chance to work with a variety of artistic forms.
The second arch connects the other two and serves as the main entrance and office space for artists being supported by HOME, and is also the entrance point to arches 1 and 2.
A double height space with full black-out capacity, creating a versatile space for projects of different scales and disciplines, Arch 3 has become a making and sharing area for artists.
Railway construction expertise
HOME Arches is the first project we have delivered for Manchester City Council and our capability of redeveloping railway arches and working within the rail sector was considered vital by our customer.
We have extensive experience of working in this environment, having delivered many projects near to and on railway.
Every single member of our team has experience in delivering similar projects within railway arches within the city or further afield in the UK, and each has a strong understanding of the sensitivities and additional considerations required when working in the vicinity of the rail network and the arches.
Our team, often in conversation with Network Rail, has delivered remedial and improvement works on over 30 projects, creating safe and dry environments which allow our customers' visions to be realised.
Building on the past to contribute to the future
The sympathetic treatment of these heritage assets will allow development of this exciting and dynamic new space.
Working together with the HOME Arches team, we brought project experience of retaining heritage features and blending in new technology to make the space fit to house modern activities in a healthy, dynamic, and history-rich environment.
These disciplines included heritage brick work, efficient glazing, and designing for natural and installed lighting to enhance the space, user experience, and added atmosphere.
