The regeneration – and re-lighting – of Bolton Town Hall is just the start of what is set to be a lighting masterplan-led transformation of the Greater Manchester town, as well as celebrating its rich industrial heritage.
This year is the 160th anniversary (in 1866) of the first stones being laid in the construction of Bolton Town Hall. The imposing Grade II listed building was designed by local architect George Woodhouse and Leeds-based contemporary William Hill, with the original building being completed in 1873 before being extended in the 1930s by local practice Bradshaw, Gass and Hope, who remain in business today.
Taken together with the neighbouring Le Mans Crescent, also Grade II listed, the two buildings are perhaps the most prominent sites within the town, which sits on the outskirts of Greater Manchester, is home to more than 300,000 people and boasts a rich industrial history as well as, of course, being the home of League One football team Bolton Wanderers.
In fact, the two buildings dominate Victoria Square and its immediate surroundings, with the Town Hall tower visible from the majority of Bolton and further afield. Nevertheless, from a lighting perspective, the Town Hall façade and aspect had both over time become somewhat lacking, as Richard Morris, associate lighting designer at Arup explains.
‘There was a bit of existing coloured light on the Town Hall but it wasn’t particularly pleasant, was only on one level and just didn’t work particularly well,’ he tells Lighting Journal. ‘Moreover, when you used to arrive at Bolton Station, it was so poorly lit you’d barely have any idea it was there. ‘All you could see was the clock face, which just looked as if the Moon was low in the sky. You would be thinking, “I’ve left the station but where am I supposed to be going?”. The nearby Morrison’s store was better lit!’ he laughs.
LIGHTING MASTERPLAN
Working closely with Bolton Council, Richard and Lauren Crossley (senior designer at Arup) developed what is essentially a new lighting masterplan for the whole town centre, including the Town Hall, Le Mans Crescent and Victoria Square.
‘Bolton Council approached us to explore ways in which the town centre lighting could better support its regeneration plans. We discussed the importance of placemaking, improving legibility and orientation within the town, and the potential role of lighting in creating a more welcoming and cohesive environment. We also considered how improvements could be captured using our night-time vulnerability assessment, ensuring that changes would positively affect how people experience the town after dark,’ he explains.
‘There are big plans for Bolton, beyond just the Town Hall and Le Mans Crescent. For example, the Crompton Place centre from the 1960s is being demolished and a whole new street being created to better connect east and west sides of the town, where there is also a lot of regeneration work happening.
‘From a lighting perspective, we wanted to create much more of a connection north, south, east and west and to draw people into the centre. We created a “Lighting Vision” document that considered how people travel through, across and into the town – what they might experience in different directions, and then what was missing. What would make them feel happier and safer in the town?’, Richard adds.
The scale of the ambition naturally means its work will be phased, starting with the Town Hall, Victoria Square and Le Mans Crescent kick-starting the transformation. ‘We divided the town centre – about 500m x 500m – into three zones, with the Town Hall in the middle,’ Richard explains.
‘Then we did three night walks with council members, pub-watch, food and retail/leisure managers, police community support officers (PCSOs), youth reps, and others to understand how people use the area and experience it firsthand after dark. This helped build a common design language, and ambition for the project between the designer, client and community,’ Richard adds.
‘We looked at everything, light source types, column mounting heights, colour temperature, illumination, contrast, and so on. We then mapped everything out about the quality of the lighting, the visual scene, and the community’s perceptions to find where the good and bad points were. What could we be doing to enliven these urban spaces and make them more welcoming?’ he says.
CONTROL, EFFICIENCY, AND MITIGATING SKYGLOW
Key considerations included the need for warm light sources to be used, which would be synonymous with original gas and tungsten light sources, and for reliable lighting control systems to reduce unnecessary lighting use and to maximise efficiency and flexibility which would enable the Town Hall façade to work in harmony with the Victoria Square public realm lighting.
Skyglow and light intrusion needed to be minimised to limit environmental impact and support biodiversity, while (naturally) high-quality LED light sources needed to be used to ensure consistent colour, efficiency, longevity and reduced maintenance. Finally, the external space and façade lighting needed to have suitable ingress protection, corrosion resistance and impact resistance.
The Town Hall project has seen some 350-400 luminaires either being replaced or installed, along with new cabling and control systems, with the work being led by a team from Studiotech.
The work on Le Mans Crescent is ongoing, and has posed its own challenges, as Chris Little, operations manager at Studiotech, tells Lighting Journal. ‘The biggest challenge with the Town Hall, technically, was how we were going to get the data and the power distributed around the building to pick up the fittings,’ he says.
‘How, too, to utilise what was already existing without having to pull too many more cables through? ‘With Le Mans, we knew at the tender stage there was asbestos there, but we thought we would be able to get a cable from the Town Hall to Le Mans. But then, of course, we found the tunnel, too, was full of asbestos! It is surprises like that, which in truth you always get – or often get – on heritage projects,’ Chris adds.
‘That meant our design for Le Mans had to change to one that is more predominantly wireless-controlled. We have evolved it to accommodate the risk from the asbestos. We’ve also then had to consider where we place the antennas so as not to be visually obtrusive. You also don’t want to have to paint them because that will affect the RF signal,’ he continues.
IDENTITY FOR VICTORIA SQUARE
Coming back down to ground level, one element of the project still to be installed – and touched on earlier – include narrow-beam projectors that will light the Town Hall tower cupola and the stone lions each side of the entrance.
‘These will finally complete the whole façade scheme later this year,’ explains Richard. The planning and research required to get the lighting details just right has been extensive, and involved significant delving back into the archives, Richard highlights.
This work has included designing new brackets, based on a 1950s’ Constance Howarth design for two heritage-style refurbished lighting columns in the square. ‘Overall, we’ve been very focused on finding ways to support regeneration as well as, at the same time, connecting the design back into the heritage of the town. It’s been about creating a town centre space that now has the beautiful backdrop of the Town Hall,’ Richard says.
‘The Town Hall is now landmarked above the town, and can be seen from the north leisure offer and car parks, from the new development areas, and when arriving at the bus and railway interchange. So, it is all much more joined up. It is now a clear marker to focus you into the town centre; we are really pleased with how it has turned out,’ he adds.
LEARNING POINTS
Finally, as ever, what have been the learning points or takeaways from a complex project like this? ‘For me, it is about front loading the project,’ says Phil. ‘You need to spend more time on planning and pre-preparation than you might do normally. You need to make sure you have the systems in place to capture the information you need upfront, to make sure you have covered all the possibilities.
‘You need to recognise that if solution (a) is not possible, even if it is your optimum choice, you do have a solution (b) or (c) and so forth. That really helps because everybody is definitely on the same page,’ he adds.
Simply the time a heritage project of this nature can take can be a steep learning curve, agrees Chris, especially things like securing the building consents. But, points out, just getting the colours right on the stonework took a couple of months of careful trial and error. Because the colour of the stonework varies, that ended up being quite a drawn-out process, albeit for the right reasons,’ he says.
‘For us, it has been a massive learning experience. It has broadened all of our knowledge when it comes to heritage, historic buildings. The things you need to allow for, the time it all takes, the trial and error and so forth. But the feedback from both the council and the general public has been really positive; they love it,’ Chris adds.
For Richard Morris, thinking right back to the beginning, doing those three night walks proved to be invaluable. ‘It helps the client – and you – to understand why you’re doing this. As a lighting designer you can be saying, “I think we should be doing this” but going on a night walk enables you really to see what it is you’re trying to address, but through the eyes of the people who live there,’ he says. If they aren’t already, encouraging the client to get really involved can also pay dividends, he advises.
‘Bolton Council has been amazing in that respect; they have really got stuck in. They’ve come along on a freezing cold night and witnessed us aiming fittings, for example. They’ve been on site to be able to see what we’re focusing on in the design and to see why the decision we’ve made is important,’ Richard explains.
‘For Bolton Council it has been a really personal thing to get their town centre looking great, looking welcoming once again,’ he adds in conclusion.
This is an abridged version of the article that appears in the May edition of Lighting Journal. To read the full article, simply click on the page-turner to your right.
Image: the newly relit Bolton Town Hall, image courtesy of Arup and Amphitype
