22 February 2023
Work is well underway on the façade conservation works at 2-3 Exchange Place, Middlesbrough, a Grade II listed building, built in the 1870’s and first listed in the late 1970’s. The conservation element of the works is being part funded by Historic England and Middlesbrough Council via a High Street Heritage Action Zone Grant. This is one of the first projects to commence work in Middlesbrough with this specific grant.
The grand old Victorian building constructed next to the railway station, was in much need of restoration. Situated in Middlesbrough’s historic quarter, the area was the commercial centre of the town’s manufacturing and trade boom in the second half of the 19th century. Like a lot of buildings in the area the premises had been unoccupied, partially derelict, for a number of years. Most recently the former office building was used as a vodka bar and dance club venue. The area is now central to the town’s regeneration programme.
The building is of brick and stone construction with encaustic tile dressings. Welsh slate roof. The ground floor has segmental stone arched windows with granite colonnettes and square pedestals and capitals. The first floor is similar with round arcading with single and paired casement windows under a common round head with an ornamental Celtic cross roundal. The second floor windows are split into alternating singles, two and three casements with similar colonnettes, pedestals and capitals. Moulded stone string sill courses, bracketed eaves cornice. Large gabled dormer with 4Nr round headed windows.
The conservation work to get the building weathertight and back to its former glory is the first phase of Commerce Chambers Limited’s ambitious plan to turn the building into first class serviced office accommodation to link to their earlier Commerce House development around the corner on Exchange Square. The ground floor accommodation is proposed be retail/restaurant accommodation.
MAW are Quantity Surveyors for the project.
