The Piece Hall Transformation Project

Client: Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council

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 The Grade I Listed Piece Hall in Halifax is a unique and iconic industrial building of the late 18th Century that illustrates the international scale of the proto-industrial Yorkshire textile industry and the great wealth, pride and ambition of the 18th century cloth manufacturers. It is the grandest, most ambitious and most prestigious of the 18th century Cloth Halls which were once the most characteristic buildings in the Yorkshire textile towns and it is now the last survivor of a building type that was specific to the West Riding of Yorkshire and its textile industry.

Its courtyard is an architectural delight and it has been described along with others including Piazza San Marco in Venice, the Piazza del Campo in Siena, the Place des Vosges in Paris, and the Rockefeller Plaza in New York as one of the forty greatest Public Squares of the World.

The building has had a number of uses throughout its history but had been in decline for a number of years and in the early 2000s its future was in doubt. LDN, working for Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council, have since then helped to revitalise the Piece Hall as the cultural, creative and community focus for Halifax and Calderdale. Its fabric has been conserved and restored and essential infrastructure and building services have been installed to deliver high quality operational and public facilities.

The courtyard has been transformed into an attractive and thriving town square and events venue surrounded by a range of high quality, distinctive attractions to draw local people and visitors from outside the area: a vibrant arena from morning to midnight, whether people are there for business, pleasure, entertainment, learning, participation or relaxation.

The newly completed project was opened to wide acclaim on Yorkshire Day 2017 and has since hosted a range of community, commercial and cultural events that have been very popular. The people of Halifax and further afield are now reclaiming a much loved building that creates a very special sense of place and identity that helps us define where they came from and who they are and influences their community and cultural life. It is also a catalyst for the regeneration of Halifax town centre as a whole.

  

Photographs © Paul White Photography



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