Eastgate, Castlefield, Manchester City Centre

Castlefield Estates

A former tarpaulin works, built in the 19th century in between the Rochdale Canal and the Bridgewater Canal in Castlefield, Manchester. By the time we became involved, Eastgate was in poor condition. A building on five floors, 60m long and 10m wide, its structure comprised of loadbearing masonry and massive timber beams at 2.5m centres spanning between external walls. During its lifetime, due to new and heavier storage requirements, two steel columns per beam have been added. There were varying degrees of wet and dry rot in the building and the floors were undulated by up to 100mm. Our task was to make ‘studio offices’ suitable for the artistic end of the working community.

We established that the structure could take the loads required, that the main timber beams had sufficient cross-sectional area to provide fire protection by sacrificial burning and that we would be able to preserve the visual integrity of the steelwork by sandblasting, followed by a careful application of intumescent paint. New plasterboard to the underside of the floors and a suspended floor over the top of the existing floor provided floor-to-floor fire protection as well as a level floor.

The policy we pursued in trying to satisfy the brief was one of careful restoration coupled with a clear contemporary expression of new uses where appropriate. As found, Eastgate was without an entrance. Our new projecting entrance uses the line of the east wall of the Roman fort which used to stand on the site.

Our adventurous developer client, coupled with a building which already had a strong personality, has allowed us the opportunity to make a place with which the occupants can identify.

The building was almost fully let on its completion in 1992.