Sanderson, L., Stone, S., Lee, S.J., 2019.

Rochdale Reimagined

For twenty-five years, Continuity in Architecture has been promoting a particular approach to the development of architectural solutions, one with profound integrity and which is contextual, expressive, and environmentally appropriate. Modesty and cooperation are emphasised and as such, the atelier encourages a response that does not generate a gratuitously flamboyant or overtly icon-centric solution or attitude, but instead advocates an approach that embraces a close and sensitive contextual reading of place. Building during any period of history represents a significant commitment of human, material and financial resources. The most successful towns and cities have adapted urban patterns and buildings to uses never imagined by their original creators. Continuity in Architecture are inspired by the efforts of architects working within existing structures and urban fabric to produce a responsive architecture of narrative, space, intervention, and detail. We aim to show that the ideas and methods we examine in the studio have real applications and are capable of being used as the basis for the production of creative and sympathetic interventions within the urban environment.

This Design Guide presents the work of the atelier in the post industrial town of Rochdale, as part of a funded project with Rochdale Borough Council and Rochdale Development Agency. The Design Guide accompanies the Rochdale Reimagined Exhibition (2019) and showcases the methodology and subsequent proposals for five sites located in the Heritage Action Zone.