The Piece Hall, Halifax, West Yorkshire
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
STREETSCAPE THE PIECE HALL, HALIFAX, WEST YORKSHIRE PRODUCTS: Bedding: PAREX FBC Fine Bedding Concrete (silo supplied) Bonding: PAREX Bond Plus Mortar Jointing: PAREX Granatech Steps/Kerbs: PAREX Kerbfix PAREX MORTARS SPECIFIED FOR RESTORATION OF The Piece Hall has a square footprint around an HISTORIC COMMERCIAL LANDMARK extensive courtyard which is surrounded on all sides by many small trading units where deals for cloth pieces A combination of Parex BS 7533-compliant mortars has were done. Later, the building became the town’s market been used for a major public realm hard landscaping and has served as a cultural and commercial centre since scheme carried out as part of a multi-million pound an initial refurbishment in the 1970s. heritage conservation and transformation programme at The Piece Hall, Halifax, which was built in the 18th The Grade 1 listed Piece Hall has more recently century as a trading hub for the Yorkshire woollen undergone a multi-million pound conservation and industry. transformation programme designed to create a world-class cultural, commercial, educational and visitor The Georgian Piece Hall was built in 1779 and lies at the destination. heart of the West Yorkshire town. In the bustling commercial centre, merchants bought “pieces” of The Piece Hall transformation project was delivered by woollen cloth from pre-Industrial Revolution hand loom Calderdale Council and made possible by funding from weavers based in the surrounding countryside and would the Council, a generous £7 million grant from the then sell them on for both the home market and for Heritage Lottery Fund – thanks to National Lottery export all around the world. players – and kind support from the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Wolfson Foundation. The landscaping teams. The silo was located in a temporary construction work was carried out by Graham compound just outside the Piece Hall perimeter where it Construction and the design work was undertaken by could be accessed for regular replenishment by bulk LDN Architects.The Piece Hall is now operated by an deliveries. Over the course of the contract more than independent body, the newly formed charity The Piece 700 tonnes of FBC were supplied. Hall Trust. The use of the silo allowed the contractors to limit The scheme featured extensive hard landscaping and deliveries to site, reduce the area required for material remodelling of the open central courtyard over an area of storage and to achieve health, safety and environmental approximately 30,000 sq metres. The gently sloping site benefits by limiting dust and eliminating packaging. has been re-designed to provide an extensive public performance space with tiered seating incorporating To achieve a strong bond between the paving units and water features. the FBC, a coating of slurry applied Parex Bond Plus mortar was used to the underside of the paving units High quality granite paving, along with granite setts and prior to laying. Jointing of the 10mm joints between the traditional sandstone was used throughout with Parex paving units was then carried out with a slurried Client: specialist mortars used for bedding, bonding and jointing application of Parex Granatech high strength jointing Calderdale Council the various slabs and setts throughout the central mortar. For added strength on the stepped sections, all square and beyond to the various entrances on all four constructed in Granite, Parex Kerbfix, an extremely rapid Main Contractor: sides of the courtyard. setting polyester mortar, was used. John Graham Construction, Leeds, West Yorkshire For bedding, Parex supplied a 16 tonne self-mixing silo to The overall refurbishment scheme also encompassed provide constant and consistent supplies of Parex Fine refurbishment and remedial work throughout The Piece Design: Bedding Concrete for the Graham Construction Hall and lasted over two and half years. LDN Architects, Edinburgh Images copyright of Paul White Photography SIKA LIMITED Contact Head Office Phone +44 1 707 394444 Watchmead Fax +44 1 707 329129 Welwyn Garden City E-Mail [email protected] Hertfordshire, AL7 1BQ www.parex.co.uk United Kingdom @ParexUK.