One of the UK’s most significant heritage projects, this grade I listed building has been conserved and transformed.
Since 1779, The Piece Hall has stood proudly at the heart of Halifax. Originally built to support the trading of ‘pieces’ of cloth, it has been a meeting point of Halifax’s commercial, civic and cultural life for almost 250 years. In an ambitious and exciting new chapter, The Piece Hall has been reimagined as a new cultural and commercial centre.
The Piece Hall has recently undergone a £19 million conservation and transformation programme. The work was carried out by Graham Construction with funding from Calderdale Council and a significant investment of £7 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund, with additional support from Garfield Weston Foundation and The Wolfson Foundation. The Piece Hall is now operated by an independent body, the newly formed charity The Piece Hall Trust.
Since re-opening on 1 August 2017, The Piece Hall has been nominated for and received awards for many different aspects of the project:
The Piece Hall won the award for Promotion of Calderdale at the 2022 Business for Calderdale Awards 2022.
The Piece Hall has been named the UK’s favourite built environment in a poll by The Building Centre to celebrate its 90th anniversary. The charity invited 90 leading figures from across Britain to select their favourite examples. These were then put to a public vote where The Piece Hall emerged as number one!
The Piece Hall won Outstanding Contribution to Tourism at the inaugural Yorkshire Post Tourism Awards 2022. The Outstanding Contribution to Tourism award recognises a proven commitment to the tourism industry. Finalists had to show they've made a substantial difference through the time, thought and effort they have invested in supporting the local tourism industry, adapting and developing over the years to stay relevant and overcome challenges to really stand out from the crowd.
The Piece Hall was named the winner of The Great Place 2022 in The Academy of Urbanism’s (AoU) Urbanism Awards. The awards recognise the best, most enduring or most improved urban environments.
Alongside the Central Library and Archives, The Piece Hall scooped RIBA Yorkshire Award 2018, RIBA Yorkshire Project Architect of the Year Award 2018, RIBA Yorkshire Conservation Award 2018 and RIBA Yorkshire Building of the Year Award 2018.
Alongside the Central Library and Archives, The Piece Hall scooped both Regeneration and Yorkshire Project of the Year at the recent Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyers Awards 2018. We have now been entered into the national RICS awards to compete to be the overall category winner at the Grand Final in London in November.
The Piece Hall won Best Commercial Restoration Project at this year's LABC Building Excellence Awards.
Claire Slattery, Arts & Heritage Manager for Calderdale Council, was the joint winner of the Best Rescue of a Heritage Building at the Historic England Heritage Angels Awards for her work on The Piece Hall. The Piece Hall was also named the first ever Overall UK Winner!
The Piece Hall shone bright, winning Community and Public Realm Project of the Year in the internationally prestigious Lighting Design Awards 2018.
The Piece Hall was included in the top ten Industry, Trade & Commerce places that help tell A History of England in 100 Places.
On Thursday 10 May, Halifax Civic Trust honoured The Piece Hall transformation project with a Heritage Green Plaque, after being impressed with the building's transformation into a modern venue with improved access, new heritage spaces and stunning courtyard.
In November, the British Guild of Travel Writers highly commended The Piece Hall in their Best UK and Ireland Tourism Project 2017.
The development is one of the most significant and high profile heritage projects to have happened in the UK.
Extensive works were undertaken to sensitively and expertly conserve the Grade I listed building. The project also included new elements in the creation of a heritage and learning visitor attraction with high quality interpretation and learning spaces, a new extension to the east wall to include restaurants and conferencing facilities, and a redesigned accessible courtyard that will house events and festivals in a year round programme creating a twenty-first century town square.
The Piece Hall is a unique and special place that demands a high quality and expert finish. While work on the project moved forward, as might be expected with the age and complexity of such a building, there were challenges along the way. The works were completed in July 2017, with the building fully reopened in the August with shops, cafes and events.
Creating a new cultural quarter for the town
The works to The Piece Hall are not the only project that has happened in this part of Halifax. Over £40million of investment is currently taking place in various construction projects which will transform The Piece Hall Quarter of the town into a new cultural quarter for the residents of Halifax and Calderdale and for visitors from further afield.