The Brief
Our Approach
We were appointed as lead consultants and architects for the renovation of the canal warehouse buildings for a new use as offices, artisan workshops, a restaurant and retail space. The areas around the buildings would also be made suitable for community use, alongside the existing canal related activities.
Many key decisions had to be made to balance the need to preserve historical features of the structures against the alterations needed to bring the buildings back in to commercial use.
A prime example of this was Nr 4 Warehouse, which could not accommodate both a new access stair and lift shaft internally, both of which were needed to comply with DDA requirements, without serious compromise to the historic fabric. The lift was therefore positioned outside on the less prominent east side with the stair inside.
The project was sponsored by the Princes Trust Regeneration through Heritage. HRH expressed his satisfaction with the outcome to Russell Earnshaw (ADP partner) at the official opening of the completed project.