The University of Sheffield School of Architecture
05 Martynas Vielavicius - From Spinning Wool to Spinning Tales Designed under the themes of time, memory, and nostalgia, the project is the redevelopment of a historical site into a multifunctional cultural facility for Film and TV production, which promotes the growth of local businesses in the film production industry. The project focuses on the notion of heritage and the spatial experience of storytelling - a mnemonic device for the user’s individual perception and re-interpretation of the place’s identity and journey through time. The project is situated in a narrow valley, about a 15 min walk away from the town centre on the remains of the Grade II* listed Rawsons Mill, a building which was once heavily occupied with textil production facilities. where its value and significance has been lost within a community. 06 Sacha Bennett-Ford - The Preservation of Halifax Situated on the site of the Grade II* listed Rawsons Mill, this project evolves over time revealing the deep heritage of the site and remembering its material and immaterial cultures. In particular, focusing on the site’s industrialisation and its effects on the inhabitants of the past. The project is a series of three interventions which seek to rejuvenate the site. The first phase is ‘The Watchtower’ serving as a viewpoint providing an overview of the restorations of the overall site and a place for the preservation of bees reflecting the past hierarchy of the workforce of the mill. The second phase is ‘The Archive & Columbarium of Halifax’ where the literature and lives of Halifax are curated and remembered. The third and final phase is ‘The Botanical and Memorial Gardens’ that allows the community of Halifax to remember the ghosts of the site and celebrate new life. Overall, the project establishes a new legacy, one that pays respect to the past and provides future preservation of bees, souls and literature. 07 Jaimie Claydon - The Active! Youth Centre Currently a destination for curious urban adventures, Rawsons Mill is full of history, wonder, adventure and danger. The Active! Youth Centre aims to convert and celebrate Rawsons Mill by making the existing structure safe and giving it back to the youth of Halifax all while maintaining a sense of exploration and adventure by engaging the local youth in opportunities to learn and explore new life skills. The centre will provide a place for personal development programmes/workshops specialised towards young people to develop life skills, and accommodation for individuals who live further afield creating an ecosystem for a range of young people. The centre will also provide start-up spaces to encourage youth entrepreneurship. 08 Matthew Forbes-Yandı - The Halifax Caravanserai In 2018, over 1,365 textile mills remain derelict in Yorkshire alone, and the crumbling legacy of its textile industry hangs by a thread. Rawsons Mill, a Grade II* listed iron framed building in Halifax faces an equally uncertain future. So, how can the architectural legacy of our textiles industry help to sustain Britain in the postindustrial landscape? Through a means of innovation and new technology, The Halifax Caravanserai proposes to initiate a new silk trade within the region, in an attempt to modernise local industry and restore the mills to fit a new purpose. With a herd of 150 transgenic goats, all modified to have the silk gene of the Golden Orb Spider - 30,000sq ft of Silk can be manufactured in one milking session, thus simultaneously preserving the fabric of our mills and fabricating a new era of textile prosperity in Yorkshire.
09 Zuozhi Liu - Museum of Artistic Mechanisation The textiles industry has been a pioneer of industrialisation during the past two centuries. However, knowledge of traditional craft has reduced and artisanal craftsmanship is no longer mainstream. The Rawsons Mill is a typical textile mill built during the mechanisation process in Halifax, a traditionally industrial town. The project combines mechanisation and craft to create an educational place where people can learn about the history of the textile industry and use machines to improve traditional skills and knowledge. Users can also create their own textile in the workshop and sell them in the temporary market or display them in the gallery. 10 Samantha Mooney - The Craft Crossover The project is based on the site of the Grade II* listed Rawsons Mill which sits in an isolated, steep-sided valley, and is in a derelict state following a number of fires. The aim of this project is to re-inhabit the mill with craft and production, by creating studio spaces and workshops for a community of makers. As a temporary inhabitation of the ruin, the project will be entirely reversible, with new interventions slotting in amongst the existing fabric, creating bespoke spaces to suit specific crafts and craftspeople. With minimum but robust interventions, the mill will be left in a state of decay and celebrated as a ruined relic of the Industrial Revolution. 11 Nikola Yanev - Algae Energy Education and Wetlands Centre This project proposes the regeneration of the abandoned Grade II* listed Rawsons Mill by focusing on power production and people empowerment. The scheme has three aspects: Firstly, the lower two floors of the mill have been taken out, transforming the space into an Algae Energy Centre where heritage is treated more robustly. Here algae is processed into biofuel, which powersup a CHP plant that produces heating and electricity for local communities. Secondly, enticed by the energy production legacy of textile mills sitting as if on an island in between mill ponds, this proposal reintroduces lakes along the breadth of the site that are used for algae cultivation, thus creating a Wetlands production and leisure landscape. Thirdly, the top floors of the mill are classrooms and social spaces where heritage is treated sensitively and people can learn about sustainable technologies, meet at an open forum and exchange ideas.
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