Procession Through Place
Procession Through Place is an adaptive reuse project that transforms the North Crewe Signal Box into a civic landmark, reviving the spirit of the Crewe Carnival through architecture. Rooted in the town’s industrial heritage and cultural legacy, the scheme reimagines the site as a space for connection, celebration, and continuity. At its core, the reinstated “Big Bill” clock tower stands as a symbol of memory and movement—an anchor that reintroduces a lost piece of Crewe’s skyline and invites renewed community pride.
The carnival inspired interventions blur the boundaries between old and new, audience and performer, public and private, creating an inclusive spatial experience that invites interaction, reflection, and celebration. Through performative layering, the architecture becomes a stage—both literal and metaphorical—for shared experiences and evolving narratives.
The carnival procession continues through the building itself, winding upward along a central staircase that forms the project’s vertical spine. Above this stairwell, a series of skylights creates a procession of light, drawing people up through the structure and leading them toward a performance space crowning the scheme. Made from paper and timber, this lightweight room glows from within, allowing silhouettes of the carnival to emerge and animate its translucent walls. From the railway and surrounding areas of Crewe, these shifting figures offer glimpses of the activity within—an illuminated celebration visible to the town beyond.
The façade itself becomes a key performer in this celebration. Bespoke Corten panels, patterned from archival 1960s imagery of the Crewe Carnival, animate the elevations with a sense of movement and memory. Like a carnival in motion, the building dances with its users, continually adapting to their rhythms and rituals, transforming the signal box into a living monument of collective memory and imagination.
