Global Patterns - Rochdale Town Hall

FABRIC FROM FIVE CONTINENTS

CORE IDEA

Once Rochdale sent textiles out across the world; today they come from across the world to Rochdale. An echo of the past and a nod to Rochdale’s multi-cultural present.

On site at Rochdale Town Hall. Adrian Wright and Stephen Broadbent installed the ceramic units for the seats. The landscape is coming together - a full transformation for what was a carpark.

CONTEXT

The refurbishing of Rochdale Town Hall and its surrounding area. This included the planting of five trees, to be encircled by themed seating. According to Pevsner, Rochdale Town Hall is the premier example of Gothic Revival civic architecture in the country. It stands very proud and was built with the proceeds of Rochdale’s flourishing 19th-century textile business, which at that time exported its wares across the world. But that was long ago. The time had come for a facelift and the Council were keen to inject new life into the building and its surroundings. An artwork outside such an important building, however, would have to say something about the town, then and now.

VISITING THE SEATS

We have enjoyed some sunshine as the seasons change - and we took this opportunity for a good afternoon of people watching alongside a cold beer from The Olde Courtyard.

The dappled shade from the trees, and the tactile, colourful seats offered a playground to explore. Even in the heat wave the seats were comfortable to sit on and the patterns sparked conversations.

ROCHDALE REGENERATION

We are a small part of a much wider regeneration, so many exciting projects being realised surrounding the restoration of the Town Hall - capturing story-telling, history and engaging communities. These interventions celebrate the area - and the notion of placemaking.

“Gillespies designed the new town square, which is being transformed to complement the lottery-supported restoration of the Grade I listed Rochdale Town Hall.

The area has been transformed from a car park into a high-quality public plaza, with beautiful benches designed by Broadbent Studio and created by Darwen Terracotta, offering visitors a chance to meet and relax under the new trees.”
— Gillespies

DETAILS

Not all the colours representing the continents are accessible yet - they are hiding behing the hoardings. We have - Pink for Africa, Sky blue for Europe, Greeny brown / browny green for Oceania, Purply midnight blue for Asia and Sandy gold for Americas. Stories for all the patterns to follow soon.

The making of Global Patterns - Rochdale Town Hall

FABRIC FROM FIVE CONTINENTS

CORE IDEA

Once Rochdale sent textiles out across the world; today they come from across the world to Rochdale. An echo of the past and a nod to Rochdale’s multi-cultural present.

Ceramic sections in the workshop at Darwen - the pink glaze representing Asia.

Each circular bench is made up of nine individual seats, all bearing textile patterns from a particular continent. In total, there are 45 individual patterns. We have rendered these as arrangements of lines and dots pressed into wet clay. When the clay is fired, titanium glaze collects in the recesses and the patterns become two-tone, iridescent faience.

The patterns themselves are of several different kinds. Some are drawn from designs simply painted or printed onto fabric, others from designs created in the weave. Some describe a certain technique such as tie-dye, appliqué or embroidery. Still others show in close-up the structure of a particular type of fabric itself. All represent textiles that have come to be identified, whether over thousands of years or just a few decades, with a certain part of the world.

A continent contains many countries located in a fewer number of zones. So for each bench we have chosen patterns from as wide a spread of cultures as possible, but composed them into three groups. Our hope is to build up a mosaic of patterns which is at once diverse and harmonious - recognisable as the cultural mosaic of a continent.

CONCEPT IMAGES

MAKING

Our small team enjoyed working at Darwen Terracotta’s workshops - being present for the full process of making and especially enjoying the light from the large windows.

A NEW TECHNIQUE

We worked with the wet clay before it was fired - creating new tools in order to press the different forms and shapes into the clay, changing the amount of pressure or depth needed. There was definitely a state of flow as we worked steadily and slowly to recreate the patterns.

UNDERSTANDING THE GLAZE

Working with Tamzin from Darwen on testing and comparing the different glaze combinations.

DETAILS IN THE GLAZE

More details and stories from each pattern to come.

“Warren Chapman, associate partner at landscape architecture Gillespies, said: “We are delighted to see the progress on bringing new life into the heart of Rochdale town centre.

“The completed project will transform a sea of car parking into a people-friendly civic space for generations of Rochdale residents to enjoy and cherish.”

Darwen Terracotta owner Jon Wilson said: “While we work worldwide, it is always heart-warming to be involved with work on our doorstep.

“We were delighted to collaborate with Broadbent on this project, and look forward to seeing the final installation of the benches. We hope the people of Rochdale greatly enjoy this exciting new town square.”

The town hall and square are expected to be reopened to the public later this year.”
— Rochdale online