Working closely with Buttress Architects, we have provided structural and civil engineering support to help transform Macclesfield Picturedrome into a market food hall, the third venture for Market Operations. The Picturedrome is the ‘spiritual sister’ to the already highly successful Mackie Mayor (central Manchester) and Altrincham markets, which we also worked on.

Originally built in 1911, the Picturedrome was a cinema, Macclesfield’s oldest during the age of the silent movie.  It became a bingo hall in the 1970s and since the early 2000s it provided office space for a graphic design company. The existing building is predominantly a load-bearing masonry structure with a dramatic barrel vaulted ceiling spanning the width of the building. There is an open-plan area to accommodate the central food hall seating area and serveries.  Our team provided civil and structural engineering services including design checks of the existing structure to ensure the safe removal of the previously installed mezzanine floor, the design of the feature kitchen and servery steelwork and access ramps, the external shack including a stunning timber colonnade, and alterations of the existing internal/external walls/ground works and drainage. The restoration is stunning and it’s wonderful to see this historic building remodelled for social use by the people of Macclesfield.  With capacity for 180 inside and a further 80 outside, there are nine independent kitchens, two bars, coffee shop, wine merchant and a chocolatier as well as communal seating areas to encourage families, friends and strangers to gather and mingle.