BUTTERMARKET
HEREFORD / UK
Historical building restoration/exhibition design/market
Project: IDxEA + UNA
Total surface area: 2.890 sqm
Covered area: 1.720 sqm
Total volume: 15.931 cm
The Buttermarket, built in 1860, is an iconic building in the county town of Herefordshire. With its clocktower rising over the city center streets, the complex is an urban landmark as well as a shopping mall and gathering place.
Despite this, in recent years the Buttermarket has lost much of its lustre, leaving the economic activities located in the facility extremely vulnerable, and the city risks losing a venue with enormous social, cultural and artistic potential. The project involves a search for new architectural and design solutions alongside a basic restoration project to preserve the building’s most interesting elements. The aim was to keep the important historical and architectural legacy of the complex alive, to the point of making restoration the stylistic hallmark of the restyling effort. Among the interventions, the restoration of the original arched ceiling stands out.
The original trusses will be brought back to their initial splendour to emphasize the earliest structure of the building, and the arrangement of the interior spaces will not change. The large central hall of the Buttermarket will be redesigned to maintain its appeal as a commercial space and also to function as a cultural venue and meeting place.
The market stalls on the ground floor will be moved to the first floor, where new multipurpose spaces will be connected by a hanging walkway. This walkway will project a pedestrian route onto the pavement of the ground floor that will cross the entire complex. The bridge has been designed to be used not only by day, for the market, but also in the evening; hence this new architectural feature may serve as a venue for cultural events aimed at the local community.
Moreover, the urban fabric surrounding and linking the Buttermarket with neighbouring areas has been completely redesigned, with an integrated system of access routes which allow visitors to appreciate this building from new perspectives.