Historic Shopfront and Canopy Renewal with External Fabric Repairs
The former Town Hall at Gainsborough is a mixed-use building, with ground floor retail and other businesses to all four street elevations. The original Edwardian Market Place facade was destroyed during WWII and the 1950s civic replacement, though not listed, makes a positive contribution to the character of the Market Place. Lathams was commissioned by the building owner to work on the restoration of the external facades, with replacement shopfronts and a new glazed canopy above a new paved area designed to accommodate outdoor café seating.
The primary aim of the project was to unlock the commercial potential and secure the long term viability of the building, whilst enhancing the external appearance of the Market Place elevation. We worked closely with the local authority (West Lindsey District Council), the property owner and the existing tenants, to secure planning consent, and were retained as project architect and contract administrators for the build, using a traditional procurement route through to completion. The works were part-funded through the Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) and Levelling Up Fund (LUF).
The retail units facing the Market Place are now fully occupied with a noticeable change in the tenant mix, including a delicatessen that exploits the new paved space with outdoor café tables beneath the new canopy. The completed scheme both activates the space, increasing footfall and dwell time within the Market Place, and complementing other town centre regeneration initiatives, including our nearby shopfront improvement project which further enhances the space.