Covered Market - uncovered

The restoration of units 46-48 Covered Market demonstrate how the units within the Covered Market can be adapted to suit modern retail requirements whilst retaining and restoring significant elements of historic fabric which are unique to the Oxford Covered Market.

Our approach for the project was to remove modern invasive elements to the unit and to carry out restoration based on historic evidence.  Original elements of historic fabric would be retained and repaired using traditional materials and techniques.

The design of the original shop front was revealed during the opening up exercise removing much of the modern tiled finishes installed by Lindsey’s the butchers. Surviving elements of the existing joinery demonstrated the simplicity of the detail and vertical studs provided proof of historic door locations.  Happily, the historic arrangement worked with the preferred proposed layout of the unit being subdivided in three suggesting that the unit was originally three smaller units.

Paint analysis by specialist Catherine Hassall revealed that the surviving elements of the shopfront were original to the unit.

An important element of the shop front to the significance of the Covered Market was the cast iron fretwork panels which originally provided ventilation to the units serving fresh meat and produce.

“In a market hall… unlike the shambles and market houses of the past, a market hall could accommodate every species of trader. It established new standards of hygiene, with washable surfaces, a plentiful supply of water and even ice houses for fishmongers. Morrison (2004: 109) “

As part of the project, we carried out a heritage statement which identified that the units were in the oldest part of the covered market dating to 1834 and designed by Thomas Wyatt the Younger. An early engraving shows the unit amongst its neighbours as a detached villa and the roof with pitched roof and columns that remain behind the modern tiling.

Oxford Preservation Trust provided historic photographs of the units the covered market. A late 20th century photograph of the adjacent unit, Hayman Fisheries, illustrates the fretwork open at the top of the unit. This survived on 46-48 covered market and was therefore an important part of the significance of the market generally.

The unique nature of the covered market provided challenges in reinstating the historic significance of the units. Despite its unifying roof, the avenues of the covered market provide an unheated semi-external environment to the units within it.  

Previous schemes of alteration had covered over the fretwork or boarded behind it, to comply with modern building regulations for fire. Through comparison with previous projects, and working closely with the local authority building control we were able to justify compromises to ensure that the openness of the fretwork panels was maintained.  

Environmental health considerations meant that any gap in the structure greater than 5mm had to be filled. To block the gaps in the fretwork panels a solution was required that would be light enough to rest on the existing slender beams, but also provided fire resistance. After some research we found a polycarbonate which did not drip or melt in the event of a fire. The design of the frames was modified with simple architraves, so the polycarbonate was not obvious.

As a result of our involvement, the input of the Oxford Preservation Trust and the City Council the project demonstrates how the units within the market can be adapted to suit modern retail requirements whilst retaining and restoring significant elements of historic fabric which are unique to the Oxford Covered Market.

The brief for the Covered Market project developed to generate interest in the Covered Market following the opening of the Westgate Centre in 2017. The project brief was to subdivide the original Lindsey’s Butcher unit into three separate units, based on a retail report dated 2013 which identified that the subdividing the units into smaller lettable spaces would provide greater opportunities for best-in-class retailers.  

The project provided an opportunity for the City Council to partner with the Oxford Preservation Trust to deliver a project that would meet their commercial aspirations of the Market whilst costs of conserving the historic fabric were met through Oxford Preservation supported by a generous grant from the William Delafield Trust.

Project team:

• Client: Oxford City Council

• Partner: Oxford Preservation Trust

• Builder: Croft Building and Conservation.

• Architects: James Mackintosh Architects.

• Structural engineer: The Morton Partnership

• Quantity Surveyor: The Vaughan Consultancy

• Services: Heaton Services

• Photography: Will Pryce

Construction cost/sqm: £5,000 ex VAT

Technical

james mackintosh architects limited

studio@jmackintosh.com

First Floor, 21 The High Street,

Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire
OX7 5AD

01608 692 310 / 07880 727 150