Many councils are being criticised (rightly or wrongly) for their reluctance or slowness in passing planning permission. In the 50s and 60s this was the other way round: councils seemed hell-bent on ‘modernising’ everything. This may have been an attempt to drag society out of the doldrums caused by our recent conflicts, but there seems to have been little regard for beauty, style and history. And, if a new building should show signs of thoughtful, innovative design – as in the case of Huddersfield’s Queensgate Market Hall – well, the council can be counted on to interfere with that as well.
Markets: a much longer history than shops
Huddersfield has been a market town since medieval times. Markets in those days were as we know them to this day: temporary outdoor areas for selling produce to the public. The ‘shop’ that we are so familiar with and assume has been with us forever is a fairly modern concept. It dates back to when the Fabergé family, who were Huguenots and had been persecuted in their native France, fled to Russia and founded their jewellery firm in the old capital of St Petersburg in 1842. They eventually came up with a cunning plan to duplicate the jewellery that had been commissioned by the local dignitaries and sell the spare ones in display cabinets one day a week in a building next to the workshops.
This thus became the first permanent building for the general public to browse and for the proprietor to display and sell their goods. Not that many of the general public could afford anything sold in a Fabergé shop, but it was a start. Of course, there were piece markets and beast markets for selling cloth or animals with an indoor area, but not a shop such as we now know and I for one hate.
A proud old building demolished
Huddersfield folk of my age will often mention the demise of the old market hall. The architect was Edward Hughes, a local lad who had designed many of our magnificent buildings dotted around Huddersfield, most now gone forever. The old market hall that had proudly stood on the corner of King Street and The Shambles for 90 years was demolished in 1970. Admittedly It had outlived its use as a market because access for deliveries had become very difficult, but it appears that the council’s vision for its future was limited to its demolition.
Queensgate Market Hall: ground-breaking, futuristic design
On April 6 1970, the new Queensgate Market Hall opened, designed by project architect Gwyn Roberts (1936–2004). Roberts had incorporated many ground-breaking and futuristic design features, not least the roof, which is usually a humble part of a building just to keep the rain out, but not here. The bespoke roof system was made up of 21 asymmetric curved hyperbolic paraboloids, so there. A Pringle is anasymet… – one of them.
All 21 of them asymmet… whareva, are 55 feet by 31 feet. The stems of the mushroom-type things are not in the centre of the 55-foot length and therefore the long side is much thinner than the short side to equalise the weight. Each mushroom is a different height from its neighbour and is designed to move with the wind an d weather, connected by 15 four-feet six-inch glass panels along each full length hung from the upper mushroom. A flexible rubber membrane connects the glass to the other roof structures below. Their weight and sideways movement is mainly taken up by the floors with limited traditional foundations. I hope you are able to keep up, it’s a hell of a job describing this building. My brain hurts now so I will move on.
Artistry hidden by council decisions on market stall placement
Unfortunately, the general public was unable to appreciate much of the design and artistry that went into this building, for the council in their infinite wisdom dictated that the permanent market stalls were to be placed in such a way as to create chaos and confusion. Apparently this was so the potential customer can see all the stalls while they are desperately trying to find their way out. Many people of Huddersfield who had been reported missing for a fotnight were found by the police cowering in one corner. Many others have asked what would happen if there was a fire in here.
The architect was shocked and extremely dismayed by this and many more decisions made by the council. Much of the interior artwork and sculptures were completely obscured or otherwise unappreciated because of the layout of the market stalls. On a recent guided tour around the building, I was surprised to see for the first time the artwork in the photos above.
There was an unused restaurant upstairs, where the customers could see into the market and appreciate the roof structure or enjoy the view from the veranda overlooking the new ring road to some of the old Victorian buildings that had been saved. But escape from the restaurant into the confusion below meant that the fire regulation certificate was never approved.
A beautiful exterior spoiled by trees and health and safety rules
The council didn’t stop there, the facade facing the ring road had nine 11-feet by 12-feet reinforced ceramic panels, each comprising 132 one-foot squares designed by Fritz Steller and named ‘Articulation in Movement’. An exterior staircase was designed to appear as if it was floating and passed through a tenth larger panel, but trees were planted in front of the panelling which have only recently been drastically pruned to reveal once more the impressive sculpture. However, the blue sections of sheet metal that had been placed on the stairway remain, which I assume was an unsympathetic and hasty compliance to health and safety.
Newer is better? Not if the council has anything to do with it
So, the message here is, be careful what you wish for.
But it’s not as if the choices we have amount to much. It seems we can either have a council which rushes into decisions and comes up with an almighty cock-up – both Huddersfield market halls being good examples – or one that takes its time, using all the public consultation periods and professional advice necessary, and then comes up with an almighty cock-up anyway.
