Market redevelopment must be done sensitively. A key question behind all our decisions was, how can this market improve the efficiency for traders and spark job opportunities within the area. Starting with the market stall design itself, we developed new equipment which can support a range of different trading modes and be flexible for the council to make full use of the main hall.
Client Kirklees Council
Location Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Value £16.5M
Scale 8,500m2
Status In Construction / Ongoing
We secured planning permission for the restoration of Huddersfield's Grade II* Open Market, an iron and glass Market Hall of 1887-9, funded by a £16.5 million investment from the UK Government as part of Kirklees Council's Huddersfield Blueprint for the town centre.
Our proposals keep the second-hand and general goods markets at centre of a traditional market offer, repairing and repainting the cast-iron frame in the original colours, and make enhancements to introduce flexibility for additional uses. The proposals are key to the council’s vision of future-proofing the market by increasing opportunities for social inclusion for all of Huddersfield’s communities.
Town centre regeneration
Huddersfield Market has traded in different guises since 1889. Originally opened as a wholesale fruit and veg market, it is most recently known for its flea market style second hand market. Its uniquely bright painted structure and glazed roof, stand out in the town centre, known for its buff stone buildings. Working with the council and traders, the proposals are built on the market’s existing strengths rather than replacing them.
A stronger market is a catalyst for growth
Public investment in the market is expected to draw people, spending, and further investment to the streets around it. A market brings people into a town centre regularly rather than occasionally, and those trips support the shops, cafés and services nearby. Therefore, strengthening the market is a way of also strengthening its neighbours. This is an exciting time of redevelopment in Huddersfield, with the market sitting alongside other ‘Huddersfield Blueprint’ projects as Our Cultural Heart, The George Hotel and upgrades to key transport hubs such as the Bus station and Trans Pennine Rail upgrade.
Looking after a listed building
The Market Hall is a Grade II* listed building, with the redevelopment refurbishing and enhancing that asset. On the building’s façade there are nearly 700 panes of glass, most of which is original and due to be retained. Restoration work includes repairing and repainting the building’s cast-iron frame in its original colours of reds, pinks and creams, established by paint analysis of the ironwork. Historic England has described the scheme as very supportive of the site’s role in Huddersfield’s wider regeneration, restoring the market’s fabric while giving it a more sustainable future. Kirklees Council’s Planning Committee granted planning permission on 16 April 2026.
“The regeneration of the market is about creating a welcoming space that works for traders, shoppers and visitors. The proposals are designed to help the market respond to changing high street patterns and support activity throughout the week.”
- David Shepherd, Executive Director for Place
Heritage + Restoration
1. Original colour scheme
The market’s ironwork is being repainted in its original colour scheme. Paint analysis found 16 historic schemes across three phases, moving from early Pompeian red columns with cream, stone and salmon-pink detailing, through a mid-century uniform green, to the post-war black, red and blue/turquoise look seen today.
The Huddersfield coat of arms is proposed to return to its earliest recorded colours: a gilded shield and frame, steel-blue helm and ram’s head, and a black chevron.
2. Building envelope
Early in the process we worked closely specialist contractors and heritage consultants to understand the building’s condition and develop a sound and proportionate approach to the building repairs. We were able to identify areas of light touch repair through to full replacement, always considering the impact on the building’s special historic value and preservation of original fabric where possible.
3. The stone annexe
The original cast iron market hall largely retains its form. The masonry annexe along the south elevation, however, has been through many iterations since the late 1880s. The whole market, annexe included, holds the Grade II* listing, so we needed a detailed understanding of its phasing and historic significance. Through research and collaboration we identified and demonstrated the areas of low significance, which permitted their removal and enabled new, vital services such as accessible WCs, Changing Places shower rooms, and market offices, all of which mean the building can continue to meet current and future needs.
Design elements
1. Fixed market stalls
We’re proposing dedicated fixed-stalls for the Market Hall, built around one consistent architectural language that complements the heritage structure without imitating it. Each stall is structurally free-standing with no impact on the historic fabric, doubles as infrastructure for branding, signage, lighting, and is left open for traders to fit out to their own character.
2. Commercial units & mezzanines
A key move of the market proposals is to induce new fixed commercial units with associated mezzanine decks. This increases the diversity of stall types and commercial opportunities for traders and creates new experiences for the public within the fantastic open market hall.
3. The annexe warm box
The proposals introduce a new entrance and heating to the masonry annexe building. Fondly referred to as the ‘warm box’ the thermal improvements here mean that the social space at the centre of the market will be more accessible and comfortable. This is to improve the users experience and encourage them to stay longer.
4. Demountable stalls
Demountable stalls are designed for easy assembly and movement, letting the Market Hall reconfigure for different market / event types. Each doubles as a trader’s counter or, when repurposed, a table for food and seating, built as one rigid form with a lightweight steel frame. Wheeled, height-adjustable legs let a single trader move and level their own stall on sloped floors, with space behind for storage and standing room, plus a removable signage board for personalisation.
More ways to trade
The proposals keep the market’s successful second-hand and general goods trading at the heart of the design, while making the building more flexible, more accessible, safer and easier to use – whether it’s operating as a traditional market, a seasonal market or hosting events. Working with the existing building keeps investment focused where it’s needed most, and new glazed screens and fixed stalls give traders more ways to trade and open the market up to new kinds of products.
Social Value
1. Jobs + Economy
2. Accessibility + Inclusion
The Annexe is remodelled for enhanced public facilities, including an accessible WC, Changing Places facility, and a multi-faith quiet room, reached through its own entrance.
Every facade has at least one accessible entrance, with ramped approaches and swing doors limiting impact on historic fabric.
3. Events + Programming
The market currently trades only on 4 out of 7 days every week. The council’s vision sees this extended to more days and longer hours with a desire to use the asset to its full potential. The main hall is a superb public space, but the rigidity of the stalls precludes other uses. The proposals allow greater flexibility with opportunity to host wider community and market led events such as the Apna Bazaar and Huddersfield St Patricks day. Enhancements to the surrounding public realm and central stalls also are a great opportunity for seasonal and private hire markets.
4. Food + Community Kitchen
Alongside the commercially focused hot food units, our proposals include a flexible commercial kitchen arrangement. The intention here, is to provide the infrastructure and facilities which can support short term hire to trial, learn, test and grow local businesses. In doing so there is wider social value by providing a space and facility that is not currently available in this area.
History in Context
1. Trade + Community
Huddersfield’s textile industry boomed through the late 19th and early 20th century, driven by mechanisation and the 1840s railway connecting the town to Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield. The market was built as a wholesale market, its canopy on pillars giving a flexible floor arranged around the day’s trade, laid out around two avenues showing how much circulation space it needed.
Migrants from Pakistan and India arrived from the late 1950s to work in textiles, growing through the 1970s. By the late 1960s the industry was declining, but the market remains a place of community resonance, hosting events like Apna Bazaar.
2. Architecture + Rarity
The Open Market was built in 1887-9 as the Wholesale Market, designed by Borough Surveyor Richard Swarbrick Dugdale to a brief for a simple roof on pillars with weather protection. Its ironwork came from the Whessoe Foundry of Darlington, one of only two entries referencing Whessoe on the National Heritage List.
The canopy gave a large, flexible floor still recognisable today, and the building alone departs from Huddersfield’s buff ashlar palette. Its glazing brings daylight into the hall, ranked by Historic England among the country’s notable markets. The cast-iron frame and roof survive and are being repaired, not replaced.
3. Civic pride
Huddersfield was granted a Royal Charter as a Municipal Borough in 1868, twenty years after Halifax and Wakefield. Within fifteen years it had markets, water and gas, tramways, police and council housing, the market built from that civic investment.
The Borough coat of arms was based on the Ramsden arms, with fleurs-de-lys replaced by rams’ heads and rams’ heads by towers, and the motto “God helps the diligent”. Paint analysis found sixteen decorative schemes, the earliest in reds, pinks and creams.
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