Rochdale Civic Society Awards Night

Globe House, Moss Bridge Road, Rochdale

Rochdale Civic Society held their annual awards ceremony at Rochdale Town Hall on Monday 20 October. The awards are presented annually and recognise notable contributions to the improvement of the environment of Rochdale. Rochdale MP Lorna Fitzsimons was there to announce the winners and the Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor. Sultan Ali presented the awards.

Rochdale Council were awarded with a slate plaque for Globe House, Moss Bridge Road. Globe House is one of the final developments in the award winning canalside regeneration area, it is a high quality managed office development and is targeted to cater for small to medium sized enterprises with a high ICT requirement. Rochdale Development Agency has been responsible for project managing this successful scheme working in partnership with both Rochdale Council and the Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund. Design considerations included features to mitigate the impact on the neighbouring residential areas and pedestrian routes, a quality designed focal point and the use of durable materials that are sympathetic with the local area.

Boarshurst Construction were awarded a slate plaque for their work restoring the Newbold building on the corner of Oldham Road and Milnrow Road. Builder Paul Merrington bought the building to prevent it becoming a car park and two years later it is now ready for use as office space. The restoration work included replacing about 60% of the brickwork and sending the clock on the outside of the building to a specialist in the Lake District for restoration. The building has a recorded history going back to 1958 when it was a slaters and grocers. A grant of 25% was awarded to Mr Merrington from Rochdale Development Agency and grants of up to 50% are available for improvements to the Drake Street area. The Civic Society consider this building to be a flagship for other companies who wish to upgrade their own premises on Drake Street.

Beva Construction of Rochdale were awarded a Certificate of Merit for their work on the new office block on College Road. Their aim was to create a modern, functional office block which would be striking and make a big impression in that area. The building was constructed without the use of traditional brickwork, in panels or piers to give a bright, clean look, especially at night. The security fencing is designed to be disguised by the surrounding planting and the security cameras are monitored 24 hours a day.

A Certificate of Merit was also awarded to William Hargreaves Ltd of Bolton in recognition of their work on the flats on Dell Road, Shawclough. The Society were impressed by the standard of the flats in comparison to others built in the area.

Other awards given on the night were a stone plaque to Rochdale Council for Touchstones Arts & Heritage Centre, Jason Stead was awarded a Heritage stone plaque for his work restoring Healey Hall to become a family home.

Deeplish County Primary School were awarded the Eddie Hilton Cup for their work in conserving a flag stone wall and Friends of Syke Pond were awarded a stainless steel plaque to recognise their work in restoring Syke Pond.

The Society's aims are to encourage high standards of architectural design and town planning and the presentation, development and improvement of features of general or historic interest. Over the past four years the Civic Society has carried out several schemes, such as the recent survey of waterways, which highlight and detail areas of pollution and litter and also, at the request of residents, has been instrumental in resisting development of areas of open space which need to be protected.