Continuity in Tempo
As outlined by the real client of the Heritage Centre, one of the key goals was to make the centre more lively and help rebuild a sense of pride and social sustainability within Crewe.
In response, my project reimagines the site as a Music Heritage Centre, combining adaptive reuse and new-built extension to revive the town's identity through its overlooked musical past. While the railway remains a central part of Crewe's story, this project brings both histories together through a spatial experience shaped by sound.
The design naturally expresses the contrast between old and new, not only in programme but also through materiality and structure. Corten steel, often associated with transformation and resilience is the exterior material, symbolizing the future while the interior has brick which retains the weight of history. Structurally, the reuse of steel portal frames is paired with CLT portal frames in the extension, showing the shift in more sustainable, current methods.
The proposed scheme imagines how the Music Heritage Centre can grow alongside Crewe’s evolving identity, celebrating its past while creating new cultural value for the future.
