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Video: Restoring Carver's Warehouse

Carver's Warehouse is one of the most important listed buildings in Manchester's industrial heritage. Built in 1806, the stone-built structure retains virtually all of its original timber and cast iron internal structure. The challenge for owner Town Centre Securities was to restore the building back to its former glory, but to do so in a way that made the development commercially viable. Key to the project was the addition of a new two storey building and atrium of contemporary design linking into the 19th century building.

As Carver's Warehouse is a listed building, there were considerable constraints on its restoration and development. In order to maintain each of the floor plates as open as possible and to minimise disturbance to the old structure, it was decided to provide vertical circulation external to the original building. This was achieved by demolishing a non-listed block of two storey terrace buildings adjacent to the warehouse. In its place, the new two storey pre-cast concrete and steel building and four storey steel and structural glass atrium were constructed. The two storey section provides the main entrance, meeting rooms and a café, while the atrium provides additional entrances, stairs and access bridges to the warehouse.

In this exclusive extract from a programme detailing the project, we give an overview of this sensitive project.