The Oldham Town Centre redevelopment stands as a flagship project within Oldham Council’s broader regeneration strategy.
The ambitious scheme has transformed a traditional 1990s shopping centre into a vibrant, mixed-use community hub featuring modern workspaces, an archive area, an event space, and a dedicated market hall.
Executing this vision meant overcoming major logistical and financial constraints. The main contractor, Willmott Dixon faced a highly complex, phased schedule that required undertaking extensive refurbishment and new-build construction inside a live retail environment—all while ensuring the safety and uninterrupted operation of the public shopping centre.
Additionally, commercial viability was a strict priority. This case study details how our project team successfully addressed the client’s brief to value-engineer the façade and envelope package, rationalising the scope to protect the budget without compromising the architectural intent of the regeneration.
To bridge the gap between ambitious design and strict budgetary targets, we embedded a collaborative Value Engineering (VE) framework from the early stages of the project. We led a comprehensive audit of the full envelope package. We deconstructed the proposed façade build-ups, optimising the specification to utilise high-performance Technal MX Curtain Walling and Technal Soleal FY65 Windows.
By simplifying complex structural interfaces and rationalising component selections, this process stripped out unnecessary commercial expenditure while stringently protecting building compliance, thermal performance, and long-term durability.
By managing the strict local authority budget constraints and high-profile architectural goals closely, we managed to eliminate common, high-cost construction bottlenecks, simplify complex interfaces, and deliver a striking, modern facade.
Completed alongside principal contractor Willmott Dixon within a live, high-traffic retail environment, the project stood as a flawless template for safe, complex urban delivery.
As urban centres evolve, repurposing existing infrastructure has become vital for sustainable economic growth. The Oldham Town Centre (Spindles) redevelopment stands as a flagship project within Oldham Council’s broader regeneration strategy & one we are particularly proud of.
The ultimate testament to the team’s engineering prowess came with the presentation of the BCO Northern Innovation Award, celebrating the project for transforming a struggling 1990s asset into an innovative, award-winning destination for the community.
What we used...
