Manchester Transformation Project

Heritage Project Management and our partner company; Heritage Project Contracts combine the skills and experience of our company directors Will Jones and Richard Baister ACR. Who between them have over 15 years’ experience working within cultural heritage and historic building projects.

Heritage Project Management provides a management service to Local Authorities, Private Developers, Museums, Heritage Trusts and Private Clients. We place the importance of the heritage assets at the centre of the project to ensure they are safeguarded and their specific heritage needs are incorporated into the project works.

Heritage Project Contracts provides specialist contractors for cultural heritage projects. We offer the services of historic metalworkers, conservators and site managers working both on site and within our own Telford based workshops.

Working across the UK HPC and HPM are able to undertake a range of services from initial project advice and project planning through to the management and completion of heritage works on site.

Manchester Transformation

Project

Designed by E. Vincent Harris in 1927; Manchester's Town Hall Extension and Central Library are of national significance and numberamong the best examples of architecture from the inter-war period.

Manchester City Council intend to transform the working environment within the buildings and to create welcoming, inspirational and active public spaces, which will transform the way in which the City Council's services, and other public services, are delivered to customers.

Working as part of the Laing O Rourke delivery team, Heritage Project Management is providing a heritage management service looking at the conservation works necessary to protect and enhance the Grade II* Listed buildings of the Town Hall Extension and Central Library into new visitor focused facilities.

Over the course of the project we have offered a number of services including the production of LBC applications and methodologies, Heritage Statements and condition reports.

We have also undertaken conservation works within the buildings including paint sampling for analysis, conservation cleaning as well as repairs/replication of the historic fabric and fixtures.

Decorative Schemes

Scagliola and Marbling

The Central Library features several fine examples of Scagliola and painted decoration. Following works to restore the Scagliola columns; damage was discovered which had occurred as a result of unsuitable storage conditions. Damage was also found to have happened to the marbled clock housing from the Main Reading Room (formerly known as the Great Hall) during works by contractors to reinstall the clock.

Conservators from Heritage Project Contracts assessed the damage to the columns and to the clock housing. The damage was then sympathetically repaired to restore them to their original appearance.

As with all conservation and restoration works completed by HPC, the works were thoroughly documented before, during and after the repairs were completed and kept as part of the conservation record for the project.

Conservation Services

The Town Hall Extension and Central Library contain many sculptures, decorative schemes and examples of fine furniture which are unique to the buildings. Heritage Project Management, along with specialist contractors from Heritage Project Contracts has undertaken conservation works to items from the historic furniture collection and to numerous decorative and architectural features from the Civic Complex.

Conservation Cleaning

Conservators from HPM have completed numerous cleaning trials on the decorative schemes and historic furniture of the Town Hall Complex. Notable among these is the gilded lettering and Scagliola columns from within the Great Hall of the Central Library, a cleaning trial to the Darley Dale limestone from the

Shakespeare Hall as well as various marble sculptures from the Council’s collection.

Historic Paint Analysis

In order to inform the restoration of the buildings back to their original appearance, HPM took paint samples from key areas of the buildings. This was then used to inform the final decorative finishes throughout the building.

Condition Assessments, Treatment Proposals and Method Statements

As part of the management service provided by HPM; significant heritage rooms and features from both buildings have been assessed in order to provide a record of their condition and to make proposals for their future conservation and restoration. HPM also provide method statements both for works to the historic fabric of the building and for works to install modern elements into the heritage areas.

Furniture Restoration

Following a full survey of the historic furniture collections completed by HPM in 2012, several items were identified as needing repair and conservation/restoration.

The large 16 seat Readers Tables from the Main Reading Room of the Central Library are one of the best known features from the public areas of the building.

They had suffered from years of constant use and needed restoration to return them to their former glory.

They also required modernisation to improve the historic lighting canopies and to remove ACM from their interiors.

Working with specialist furniture restorers and M&E contractors; consultants from HPC undertook works to repair and restore the tables and their canopies.

Listed Building Consent

Council Chamber Furniture

Following the partial collapse of the Council Chamber ceiling and several decades of wear and tear; the Council Chamber furniture was found to be in need of careful conservation and refurbishment.

Given the high historic and aesthetic significance of the furniture; consultants from HPM, working with furniture restoration specialists A.G Podmore & Son undertook a comprehensive condition assessment of the furniture and of the ‘pig skin’ doors from the Chamber entrances.

The findings of the assessment were used to inform the Listed Building Consent application which HPM produced on behalf of Manchester City Council. The application covered the refurbishment of the furniture and a programme of sympathetic alterations to install modern voting systems and AV services into the chamber. This included the repair of previous alterations which had damaged the historic fabric of the desks; restoring them to their original appearance.

HPM has successfully submitted a number of LBC applications in support of the Manchester Transformation project. This has included works to remove and refurbish a number of 1870s street lamps from within the curtilage of the Grade 1 Listed Town Hall and applications to install modern elements into the historic fabric of the buildings.

Heritage Contracting

Historic Metalwork

Brass Handrails

HPC undertook the replication of over 750m of historic brass handrails within the Town Hall Extension and central Library buildings. This included the commissioning on new extrusion dies for the section profiles, castings for the handrail brackets and traditional techniques in forming the new handrails and scrolls.

The handrails were installed to every floor of the 4 stair cores within the Town Hall Extension. The brackets were patinated to match the existing finish while the handrails themselves were left patinate down naturally.

Leadwork

HPC undertook the conservation to the lead roof of the courtyard of the Town Hall Extension. This included conservation repair of the existing leadwork and the fitting of new cast lead sheets and gutters to the amended roof areas. Traditional lead burning was employed on site for the repairs and where possible existing lead sheets were re-cast and reformed into new sheets.

Bronze Windows

The Town Hall Extension has 1548 bronze windows which were in a severely corroded condition and had suffered differing levels of maintenance over their lifetime.

HPM undertook a series of cleaning trials to establish appropriate techniques to restore these windows. Working with a specialist paint supplier; a new coating based on experience of long terms protection of bronze statues was developed specifically for the contract works. The agreed systems of cleaning and protection were then implemented by the contractor on site.

Heritage Lamp Posts

Following a successful application for LBC; HPC removed the 7no heritage lamp posts to our Telford workshops where they are currently undergoing, paint analysis, repair and cleaning in preparation for their return to site.

Research is also underway to identify and replicate the original lighting heads which have been lost. The lighting heads will be recreated using traditional blacksmithing techniques.

Other Relevant Experience

ss Great Britain

• Project Management of the new library and archive facilities to the Brunel Institute.
• Consultants on the ‘Go Aloft’ project.

Museum of Lincolnshire Life

• Conservation and Environmental Monitoring of items from the Industrial and Agricultural collections.
• Protection and relocation of vehicles from the Industrial and Agricultural collections.

Tatton Park

• Paint Sampling and Analysis to inform the restoration of the Servants Quarters.