Todmorden Market

Overview

The 140 year old market was in need of refreshing internally, the leaking and very aged roof and roof glazing required replacement, external parapets and stonework required attention and all of this had to be undertaken without any stalls closing.

Construction details

The market has been in the centre of Todmorden for over 140 years, it is a standard construction for the time of York stone and slate roofing but it has 4 pitched sections each with a 30m long raised roof lantern above. After 140 years of weathering the roof lanterns had become beyond repair and so as part of a scheme to re-roof the market the council decided to replace the roof lanterns also with a more modern aluminium patent glazing system.

To enhance and brighten the internal appearance we decorated the soffit of the roof and all the high level steelwork, the stall holders we key to this as they were invited to choose colour schemes and decide on scope of works.

Challenges

The market was to remain open at all times, this required a 500m² crash deck being erected above the market stalls during the evenings and weekends, that was the easy part as the roof structure is a nest of iron beams and braces, erecting the scaffold through this was painstaking.

As with any building this age there were several amendments to the project scope involving stitch repairs to stonework, additional timbering and steelwork alterations to materials that had failed after 140 years of weather.

Better value

Once again, we showed the ability to deliver better value by providing the client with cost updates regularly they were able to identify a sum of money that could be used to refurbish the toilets within the markets. Our regular final account forecast and up to date costing provided by our modern management system allows the client and our teams to know where costs are to be expended or savings can be made.

Health and Safety

The project was completed without RIDDOR accidents and there were no injuries to report during the entire construction process despite the works being undertaken in a ‘live’ busy market environment and adjacent to a bus terminus.