Live Project
Project Update
The Manchester ‘Our Town Hall’ project, aptly named as it belongs to the people of Manchester, sees one of the City’s greatest cultural and civic assets revived and restored to its former glory, to ensure the longevity of this historical building so that it may continue delivering a positive impact on the local community and people of Manchester. Stonewest is working as specialist contractor, appointed via Lendlease (Management Contractor), and forms part of a collaborative, multidisciplinary team on site.
Our stone masonry work at the project is progressing well. A key milestone was the re-installation of sections of the town hall’s iconic Spire using a 300-ton mobile crane, supplied by John Sutch Cranes Ltd of Liverpool.
David Murnane, Site Manager for Stonewest, said “The town hall’s Spire has been a constant presence in Manchester’s skyline for the last 145 years and it is fantastic to be involved in the first project to restore it since 1889. Our skilled team of stonemasons and our apprentices are very proud to be contributing to the revival of this wonderful historic building”.
The Spire itself comprises over 60 courses of stone. We deconstructed the pinnacle on the Spire, the weathervane and the top five stone courses, finding that 3 of the 5 courses requiring replacement. The internal connecting rod that secured the tower stones and weathervane was rusting, resulting in cracked and broken stones. We replaced the rusting sections of the rod with new stainless-steel and then refitted the dismantled Spire stones including installation of the new section, supplied by Johnsons Wellfield of Huddersfield. The restored weathervane will be fitted by Heritage Contracts.
The 6-year programme of works is the largest heritage project currently being undertaken in the UK and through dialogue and community engagement has created significant social value for the people of Manchester.
In terms of delivering Social Value, we are proud to have built a new project team comprising of 90% local masons, supervisors & labourers, as well as the enrolment and training of 5 local apprentices. Our works include: surveying, drafting, cutting out, working and fixing around 2,000 York stone indents; repointing of a large percentage of the historic facades. We also completed the takedown and rebuild of the top section of the 260ft stone spire, incorporating a new stainless steel holding down rod and repairs to internal oak bracings and new lead cloak.
Gallery
