Bilbao Effect heads to Bolton with "dramatic" £5 million renovation of Grade II-listed church

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

Trust says 'Bolton Model' used at early 20th century church could inspire future community developments

A 19th century church built at the junction of two terraced Bolton streets in an attempt to create a focal point for the community 130 years ago could become a model for the 200 urban churches at risk across the country, according to organisers of a ten-year, £4.9 million renovation.

Visitors can walk around a high-level open deck at All Souls, where two free-standing “building within a building” pods include a centre for heritage learning and an open-air coffee shop and restaurant within the nave on the first floor of the development, which won English Heritage’s Angel Award for the rescue of a historic site.

“Future generations will be talking about the ‘Bolton Model’ for the regeneration of unloved urban churches,” says Crispin Truman, of The Churches Conservation Trust, who compares the regenerative potential of the building to the so-called Bilbao Effect created by the Guggenheim in Spain.

“This arresting and dramatic new design enables All Souls to be used in new ways. It demonstrates not only how to enable new uses of a Grade II* church whilst maintaining its heritage, but also how to enrich the lives of those who live around such buildings.

“Urban churches like All Souls pose a particular challenge, as their size makes repairs expensive and finding sustainable new uses tricky.

“But when such important historic buildings sit unused and at risk we have a duty to save them and help local people make use of them.”

Materials and machinery were transported through the church’s two-metre wide west doorway during a transformation which is expected to guarantee a century of good health for a building previously described as “unloved”.

“It’s a voyage of discovery as you move through the building reading different elements of the existing architecture against the backdrop of the new,” says Nick Berry, of OMI Architects.

“Respect for the original design of the church and its urban context has been key to the inspiration for the new design, but also the strongly held view that the new interventions should not be subservient to the surrounding architecture.”

The Trust will now shift its attention to turning St Mary at the Quay, in Ipswich, into a wellbeing heritage centre, opening in early 2016.

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Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk//history-and-heritage/historic-buildings/art512194-bilbao-effect-heads-to-bolton-with-dramatic-five-million-pound-renovation-of-grade-two-listed-church