Private Client

Budget

£1-1.2m

Located within the Middleton Town Centre Conservation Area and identified in the local appraisal as a building of importance, 77 Long Street sits amongst an eclectic streetscape of varied character. While the proposal is restrained in its intervention to the street-facing façade, it introduces a contemporary language at the rear and sides; taking cues from Edgar Wood’s regional modernism. A lightweight glass box, subtly offset and supported by elegant brick and tile detailing, forms the key movement of the extension. Hit-and-miss brick screens and finely proportioned slot windows animate the elevation with dappled light and shadow, while a custom-designed motif screen and ornamental columns on a shaded canopy signal a new civic gravitas at the entrance.

Echoing the grandeur of classical rotunda spaces, the proposal opens with a pair of generous double doors leading into a vestibule that offers a gracious threshold moment before revealing a dramatic circular entrance space, topped by a central skylight. Here, bespoke bifold doors can be opened to frame views toward a sculptural spiral staircase rising within a double-height void, creating a sense of theatrical reveal and vertical dynamism.

Double doors are introduced within existing window apertures to provide fluid connections between the kitchen/banquet hall and the new reception foyer, reinforcing the ceremonial procession through the space. The intervention combines internal refurbishment and sensitive external renovation of the heritage façade, creating a multifunctional venue space capable of hosting events ranging from weddings and civic ceremonies to community gatherings.

The rear bowling green, previously underused, is activated through the introduction of a new car park served by a gently sloping ramp that integrates into the existing vehicular network, carefully planned to preserve mature trees and enhance site biodiversity.