Bolton Central Library has undergone a £4.4m restoration and refurbishment to provide new creative and cultural spaces that modernise and adapt the building to meet changing user requirements and serve the wider needs of the community.
Strategic partnership to benefit Bolton
Through a strategic partnership with Bolton Council, Clear Futures ensured the project met their requirements, provided value for money, and was delivered within programme and budget.
Clear Futures supported the Council in securing Levelling Up funding and procured a Tier 1 contractor. Acting on behalf of the Council, Clear Futures managed the development of the designs, cost plan and program during preconstruction; as well as managing the construction phase, and co-ordinating practical completion and handover activities.
Transformational works to respect heritage
The transformation, carried out by Robertson Construction North West has seen the Library refurbished to its original splendour.
Built in the 1930’s and part of the wider Bolton Museum, Archives and Aquarium, the parquet floor has been returned to its former glory, with new period lighting and decoration reflecting to its heritage background.
Works also included:
new digital facilities,
fully equipped café and a refurbished seating area with bespoke joinery,
children and young people’s library space with dedicated areas according to age,
Changing Places facility,
and additional mezzanine floor.
Delivering improved outcomes
Bolton Library’s new modern space has been designed to build on the core deliverables of book borrowing and computer use, while offering flexible space for a wide variety of organisations like community groups, businesses, artists, performers and others.
It will increase long-term life opportunities for residents by embedding health, digital skills and reader development as part of its operational business plan.
Significantly more footfall is expected, and people’s perceptions of the town centre are rising. The library service has already seen a dramatic increase in usage since reopening, with new and old visitors being attracted from a wider demographic. The new café area is supporting footfall not just to the library, but to the museum and aquarium as well, and is becoming a focal meeting point for local people and visitors.
Social value integrated
£554.6k
social value delivered
87 weeks
training opportunities
17
local people employed
Tier 1 contractor Robertson drove social value activities that were designed to meet the needs of the local community, including several activities, which led to a Bronze Award from the Considerate Constructors’ Scheme regional awards:
The transformational change of Bolton Library will now make a huge contribution to people and place, providing inspiration and entertainment that promotes interaction and cohesion, to attract both new and repeat visitors from a wide range of demographics and socio-economic backgrounds.
Regeneration is not just about bricks and mortar, it is about improving the lives of our residents by offering better services, experiences, and opportunities. The newly renovated Bolton Library is a perfect example of this, creating a modern, versatile, and welcoming space that offers something for all ages.
Cllr Akhtar Zaman, Deputy Leader, Bolton Council
Our strategic partnership with Bolton Council
Clear Futures and Bolton Council have been working in partnership since 2019 to boost the town centre’s role as a key player in the Greater Manchester economy. This is coupled with a wider aspiration to attract more high-growth companies that will create the additional jobs, knowledge, skills and technology needed to compete in a global economy.
Bolton Market has benefited from an extension and partial refurbishment to create a new food hall to house independent traders. It now offers a wider variety of stalls, appealing to younger shoppers and creating a space where people can meet and socialise in the evenings, which previously was not an option in the area.
This project will help improve the area for local people. The ultimate aim is to increase both the number of visitors and the amount of time they spend there. Designed to bring the community together.
Keeping the market operational throughout
Seddon endeavoured to make sure all 150 existing vendors could continue to trade at the market as live works continued on site for a 12-month period. Maintaining operation was made possible through the good relationships Seddon has with Clear Futures, the local council and the market manager. Teamwork and collaboration were key to the completion of this project.
A three-phase project
Works on Bolton Market were completed across three phases:
Phase 1 – construction of the outdoor market
Phase 2 – construction of new food hall extension
Phase 3 – partial refurbishment works on the market including new entrance areas, external signage , internal lighting, fire alarms and redecoration.
£1.325m
social value delivered
£1.118m
MSME spend
15
local people employed
Seddon drove social value activities that were specifically targeted to provide impact needed in the local community. Of the £1.325m delivered, here are some highlights:
32 weeks of training opportunities for local people
30 hours supporting unemployed people into work
185 volunteering hours provided to support local community projects
151 employees from MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) given access to wellbeing programmes
29 hours of expert business advice provided to VCSEs (voluntary and community sector enterprises) and MSMEs
15 local people for the duration of the contract
£10k of community support
Delivering improved options for local people
The 48-week programme comprised of a new outdoor market, and partial refurbishment to create a new food hall to house independent food vendors and seating for members of the public in Bolton. This will give a variety of new and diverse food options to choose from in a space designed to bring together the community. Existing traders were overjoyed with the new facility and said the overall experience was extremely positive.
150 market vendors, all maintained operation throughout
Bolton Market is a hub of the community
Teamwork and collaboration were key
New opportunity for local community
Delivered on time and in budget
Bolton’s award-winning market is one of our best town centre assets, offering quality local products at great prices. As we modernise the town centre, we want the market to adapt to meet the changing needs of customers. Having more people living in the town centre will make it a more vibrant and attractive place .
– Councillor Martyn Cox, Leader of Bolton Council
Working in partnership with Clear Futures
Seddon is a Tier 1 contractor appointed to Bolton’ Council’s strategic partnership with Clear Futures. A key aim of the partnership is to generate value to the local economy. Seddon is a Bolton-based business, and a significant number of the workforce on this project are based within the Bolton postcode, which meant they had a sense of pride in completing the project.
Our strategic partnership with Bolton Council
Clear Futures and Bolton Council have been working in partnership since 2019 to boost the town centre’s role as a key player in the Greater Manchester economy. This is coupled with a wider aspiration to attract more high-growth companies that will create the additional jobs, knowledge, skills and technology needed to compete in a global economy.
Clear Futures led the project to rejuvenate and reconfigure a key asset in Stockport Council’s workplace estate, the 1975-built Stopford House, spanning 72,500 square feet (6735m2) across six storeys.
Strategic support to ensure viability
Clear Futures undertook feasibility, business case and consultation with stakeholders to ensure the project would create additional value for Stockport’s public sector portfolio.
Through our network of expert consultants, we brought together Stockport Council and SpaceInvader Design, who carried out a full refurbishment of Stopford House, so that it could accommodate new ways of working. With sustainability at the heart of all Clear Futures’ partnerships, we brought our financial expertise to the table, successfully applying to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Fund, to invest in minimising future operational carbon and energy costs.
A flexible space for modern collaborative working
The key drivers for Stockport Council were affordability, flexibility and decarbonisation.
To ensure the new space would meet the needs of all users, Stockport Council needed an initial workplace strategy review, as well as assessment of the building’s fitness for purpose.
After a thorough examination of the building’s structure, services and space, SpaceInvader proposed a major upgrade to the building, to create a future-facing workplace for the council’s own team, as well as the best possible spaces and services for the community the council serves.
Consultations showed that the space planning had to accommodate new ways of working and empower people work in the best way, whether on their own, collaboratively in small teams, or with members of the public. The floor plans are flexible enough to be reconfigured on any day.
With public sector budgets under pressure, creating well-designed, flexible shared space means that certain areas, or an entire floorplate, can be leased to partners to generate revenue from the building footprint.
“Our Stopford House refurbishment project is an example of us investing in our workforce. We know that our people are our best asset – and having a great place to work is important for team morale, productivity and an organisation that has ambition running through its core. Stopford House is also part of our drive to become a more sustainable council, and the building was designed with the climate central to its features”
Cllr Malcolm Allan, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources at Stockport Council, speaking to SpaceInvader design
The strategy of modernisation through re-use and refurbishment vastly reduced the embodied carbon of the project, compared with building anew. SpaceInvader’s design made the most of the building’s existing brutalist architecture while seeking every possible way to re-use the building’s fabric with a less-is-more, circular economy approach, adding interventions only where necessary.
Recognising the environmental importance of retrofitting was a key net zero goal, but working with an older building brought challenges.
M&E consultant, Cundall, exposed the thermal mass of the building to passively maintain comfort levels, reducing reliance on comfort cooling. Any further cooling was restricted to high occupancy meeting rooms only, to reduce ongoing operational carbon.
A complete retrofit of renewable technologies would be challenging, but the team designed a system with air source heat pumps to complement biomass boilers, reducing reliance on existing natural gas boilers. Also, windows were replaced, improving thermal performance and increasing natural ventilation provision, to form part of a mixed mode ventilation system.
One whole floor was furnished using existing desks and some existing furniture was also re-covered to give a new lease of life.
Materials and products were specified for carbon neutral manufacturing, recycled content, end-of-life recycling schemes, while 285 items of existing furniture were repurposed. Minimal fixed new furniture and fittings was used, to maximise flexibility of the layout.
Project outcomes
6735m2
fit out
285 items
furniture reused/repurposed
16 tonnes
CO2e saved vs new furniture
Community support
32 pieces of furniture were donated to Stockport Race Equality Partnership, as part of a community refurbishment carried out by Overbury and other companies, covering over 687 volunteer hours.
Speaking to fit out and refurbishment specialist, Overbury, James Kington, Strategic Head of Estates and Asset Management, Stockport Council said:
“We invested in Stopford House because it was a key council asset. It was really important that we were able to show green credentials, but not greenwashing – actual accountable measures that show that this building is more environmentally sound than when we started.”
Talking to delivery partner Overbury, Stockport Council outlined the strategy for rejuvenating this asset.
Related service – decarbonisation
Find out more about how our long-term strategic approach supports you on the roadmap to meet your net zero goals, including heat decarbonisation plans, decarbonisation programmes and asset rationalisation.
Clear Futures works strategically with all of our partners to help develop the right path forward to meet the priority goals for their community. This flexible, tailored approach, working over the long term, is at the heart of all our partnerships.
Building a prosperous future for Bolton through transformative town centre regeneration.
Advisory services, Regeneration
How we boosted Bolton’s levelling up ambitions
Partner: Bolton Council
Bolton, like many other towns across the UK, continues to face tough challenges. Despite this, the town remains resilient in its determination to drive positive change and create new opportunities for communities.
Bolton Council has ambitions to boost the town centre’s role as a key player in the Greater Manchester economy. This is coupled with a wider aspiration to attract more high-growth companies that will create the additional jobs, knowledge, skills and technology needed to compete in a global economy.
Background
In the year that followed central government’s launch of the £3.6 billion Towns Fund, the country faced a whole new set of challenges that few people could have predicted. Towns and their communities were at the forefront of the national response to COVID-19, showing great adaptability and resilience in the fight against the pandemic.
Central government wanted to kick-start the economy quickly, providing financial support through the Towns Fund. Such investment meant submitting a robust proposal, including: resilient town centre investment plans, heads of terms documents, detailed project business cases, outline designs, commercial investment models and benefits realisation plans.
Working in strategic partnership, Clear Futures brings the additional capabilities Bolton Council needs to secure funding and deliver schemes that underpin the town’s regeneration ambitions.
Contact Clear Futures for more on strategic partnerships.
Given the time constraints and resource challenge due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19, few local authorities had the capabilities to develop a strong proposal without some external support.
Through our strategic partnership, Bolton Council turned to Clear Futures. Working with the council’s regeneration team, we quickly and efficiently evaluated their needs, and engaged several specialist consultants to provide project management and quantity surveying expertise. We also boosted the capacity of the council’s team, bringing additional Clear Futures resource to drive through the complex programme and submit a strong and timely proposal to central government.
Outcome
Out of the 101 towns invited to submit proposals for part of the £3.6 billion Towns Fund, only 43 were successful – including Bolton who secured £22.9 million to invest in four key town centre regeneration schemes.
The success of the proposal results from the council and its partners engaging and collaborating with residents, MPs and private and public sector partners, and reinforces a collective ambition and commitment to regenerating Bolton’s town centre.
More from our partnership with Bolton Council
Clear Futures and Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council have been working in partnership since 2019 to boost the town centre’s role as a key player in the Greater Manchester economy.
