Our aim for Maryport was to consider first and foremost the local community. Kim Corrall, Buttress
Maryport is a coastal town in north west Cumbria sitting just outside, and to the west, of the Lake District National Park. Buttress have worked alongside Cumberland Council and Allerdale Borough Council to create and drive forward a vision for the town's future with a strategic plan and series of projects funded by the Future High Streets (FHS) and High Street Action Zone (HSHAZ) schemes.
Through the masterplan's first projects, our strategy has been to drive growth, improve experience and ensure sustainability.
Understanding the place, and its inherent liveability, drove the vision and key themes for the masterplan with the FHSF proposal concentrating on Maryport's high street and its connectivity to the wider town.
The projects
Proposals include a series of projects that together renew and reshape the town's offer and improve its day and night-time experience. The projects are interconnected and were created together, each a piece of a large piece with the community at their heart.
The Carlton
The former Carlton cinema in Maryport is being transformed into a new high-street cultural venue and community hub. The Carlton will be home to various creative spaces including a recording studio, rehearsal, and workshop spaces during the day. In the evening it transforms into a live music venue, kick-starting the night-time economy for Maryport.
Christ Church
Buttress completed concept design, Heritage Impact Assessment, planning and listed building consents which see grade II listed Christ Church repurposed into Maryport’s maritime museum. The prominence of the building supports the storytelling of the town's maritime history, and as home to the maritime museum this key local landmark is given a new and sustainable use.
Maryport Town Hall
Maryport Town Hall has been refurbished, rejuvenating the building and turning it into a space for Maryport Town Council. New co-working spaces within the building have also created a vital community hub. By using the new hub as local desk space, the Cumbria Police now have a presence in the town again which has had immediate positive impacts on the local community.
Maryport Activity Centre
Buttress, Mott MacDonald, and Allerdale Council identified a new swimming pool, as an extension to the Wave as part of the successful Future High Street Fund bid. Options were tested and designs were developed for RIBA stage 3. Increasing construction and energy costs contributed to a change of direction, and the leisure offer was re-visioned as a collection of small internal and external proposals. The Maryport Activity Centre now includes an adventure play centre for young children, improvements to the Clip’n’Climb attraction, new multipurpose studio spaces, a community meeting space, party rooms, and a better gymnasium. A new welcome is realised by re-modelling the entrance and creating a new bike hub and attractive landscaping on the Promenade.
The Promenade
As part of the new Maryport Activity Centre plans, proposals for the promenade include the demolition of disused buildings making way for a beach-side shop and cafe with outside seating and street art. The promenade is designed to encourage people to be active and enjoy the sea air, by walking or running with several key organised runs already in Maryport's event calendar.
The Boardwalk
The new accessible boardwalk by Buttress with Layer Studios links the town's promenade, harbourside and other facilities for the first time. A technical solution to the structure responds to the seafront and tidal location whilst the design development including the final choice of colour was co-designed with the local community.
Shipping Brow Gallery
The harbourside Shipping Brow Gallery denotes the start of Sennhouse Street. The former museum has been restored and converted to house a ground floor gallery and first floor apartment for an artist in residence.
High Street Heritage Action Zone - Shopfronts
Funded by the HSHAZ programme, Buttress' Heritage Consultants created a shopfront design guide for Maryport. The guide encourages good practice in the design of new, and the improvement of existing, frontages that are in keeping with the character, scale and appearance of Maryport's historic townscape.
with Maryport for Maryport
Community is at the heart of both Buttress and Maryport. We wanted to deliver designs that people wanted to see and engage with, as well as giving the town a unique offer to bring visitors in. As part of the community focus and engagement, we hosted over 20 consultations in the town, ranging from the local pub to libraries and schools. We also hosted workshops with primary and secondary school age children, getting them involved in the idea generation and design stage of the project.
As projects have developed we have stayed connected to the community delivering workshops as part of the town work experience scheme and helping children develop their own vision for the Carlton as a new leisure destination for the local area.
Chithra Marsh
Chithra is a director at Buttress with more than 20 years of experience in commercial practice in both the public and private sectors.
Kimberley Corrall
Kimberley is an associate at Buttress who works within the practice's heritage team, specialising in projects that have a strong community emphasis.
Lucy Brackenbury
Lucy is an enthusiastic and creative architect who specialises in projects that have a strong community emphasis.