Farnworth Town Centre
- Location
- Farnworth, Bolton, UK
- Client
- Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council and Capital & Centric
- Expertise
- Architecture
- Civil & Structural Engineering
- Landscape Architecture
- Urban Design
- Town Planning
- Completion
- Ongoing
- Cost
- £50k
The primary goal of the masterplan was to address the challenges facing Bolton’s town centre, identify needs, and create a vision to ensure long-term viability and continued investment.
In 2019, BDP completed a Masterplan for Farnworth Town Centre, the main priority of which was to consider the issues and challenges it faced, identify needs and produce a vision and framework to underpin efforts to secure continued investment and long-term viability.
The final Masterplan was supported by a robust delivery and implementation strategy and identified a number of poorly performing sites that offered scope for intervention, principally for housing, but also other uses to broaden the diversity of the town centre.
Informed by a study of the morphology and character of successful market towns from across the UK, BDP’s proposal for the new development was warmly welcomed by local members and residents.
Bolton Council appointed Capital & Centric to bring forward ambitious plans to regenerate the town’s marketplace and retail precinct, creating a new residential, cultural, retail and leisure heart for the town.
“The redevelopment of Farnworth Market will create a vibrant place, built on strong social cohesion, successful business and healthy residents. We are very proud to have designed a welcoming place where people will choose to live, work and visit and we are ecstatic that it has gained planning approval. We are very excited to begin this next stage in the revitalisation of Bolton.”
BDP was commissioned, as part of a wider design team, by Capital & Centric to deliver a regeneration scheme that provides a new public square, and an additional five buildings, for Farnworth town centre.
The resulting development is an ambitious £50 million town centre regeneration project for residential and commercial uses. The project aims to reconnect the former derelict covered market site through improved pedestrian connectivity, creative landscaping to encourage activity, retail units to attract contemporary traders and coffee shops and restaurants, and to generate a refreshed sense of community, whilst providing much-needed, modern living space
The Farnworth project also aims to reboot the market town, by providing flexible outdoor space, areas for commercial use in the community, and new places to work and live at the heart of the town, creating a vibrant, exciting place to be.
Outline planning consent was granted in 2021, followed by Reserved Matters approval in 2022. Construction works commenced in 2023.
Farnworth town centre faced significant challenges, including a declining retail environment, high vacancy rates, and poorly maintained properties. However, it also possessed strong assets such as leisure, education, and health facilities. In 2019, we collaborated with Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council to develop a masterplan that addressed these issues and charted a sustainable future for the town. The priority of our masterplan was to establish a vision and framework that could secure long-term investment and revitalise the town centre. Through stakeholder workshops and public consultations, we identified key priorities, including changes in land use, new housing delivery, land acquisition, and infrastructure investment. Our strategy emphasised opportunities for poorly performing sites to be repurposed for housing and other uses to diversify and strengthen the town centre.