Project Name: Welsh Baptist Chapel, Upper Brook Street, Manchester, Grade II*

Type of Project: Historic Building Appraisal, Condition Assessment and Schedule of Repairs

Date: October 2006

Client: Manchester City Council

Structural Engineer: Brian Clancy Higby

Special Interest: The former “Unitarian Chapel”, constructed in 1839, is attributed to Sir Charles Barry, although it is believed to be an early collaboration between Barry and A.W.N. Pugin, Architect of the Gorton Monastery and more famously the Houses of Parliament. It represents the first purpose-built chapel specifically for Unitarian worship and has been owned by the Manchester City Council since 1974. The Chapel is testimony of the diffusion of the Unitarianism in Manchester at the beginning of 19th Century and of the close connection between the movement of the middle/working classes, which were growing and moving out to the suburbs as a consequence of the industrial and economic expansion of the city.

Scope of Professional Services:
            Heritage Architecture Ltd were commissioned to undertake the following:

• HISTORIC BUILDING APPRAISAL: Research was undertaken into the architectural and historic interest of the Chapel in the context of the statutory criteria for listing, Paragraphs 6.10-6.16 of PPG15. Established criteria include architectural interest, historic interest, close historical associations and group value.

• CONDITION ASSESSMENT: Heritage Architecture Ltd undertook an assessment of the architectural condition of the building and prepared a schedule of repairs to enable a quantity survey of the relative costs of repairing the condition to be carried out.

• SCHEDULES OF REPAIR: Heritage Architecture Ltd were also commissioned to prepare schedules of repair and to determine the magnitude of repair work that would be required to achieve a weather tight envelope in the first instance, followed by additional works to progress the condition of the building for occupancy.