Restoring a much-loved Victorian landmark
Huddersfield’s Open Market has served the town since the 1880s. Its Grade II* listed Market Hall, with its decorative cast-iron frame and roof, is one of the most recognisable buildings in the town centre. Kirklees Council has appointed Willmott Dixon to deliver £14.9m of construction works as part of a £16.5m redevelopment, funded through the Government’s Levelling Up Fund. The aim is to secure the hall’s future, protect its heritage and give traders and shoppers a market fit for the next generation.
Our work honours the building’s history while future-proofing it. Outside, we are repairing the timber and cast-iron frame, carrying out a full repaint that brings back the market’s original reds, pinks and creams, and replacing the roller shutters with new curtain walling. Inside, new steel frames will create a food and drink hub: a market café, hot food units and a bar below a mezzanine seating area. The restored hall will have more than 87 pitches and will support the council’s ambition to open the market six days a week with a full calendar of events, bringing more people into the town centre.
What we are delivering
- Repairs to the historic timber and cast-iron frame and roof, with a full repaint in the original colour scheme
- New curtain walling to replace the existing roller shutters
- A new food and drink hub with a market café, hot food units, a bar and mezzanine seating
- More than 87 pitches, including 12 larger permanent stalls with built-in services and storage, and demountable stalls for market days
- Improved access: automated entrances, ramps, accessible WCs, Changing Places and shower facilities
- Internal remodelling of the adjoining annexe to create a new Markets Team office, kitchen and public toilets
- Energy-efficient air source heat pumps and LED lighting
Keeping the market trading
Restoring a listed building while keeping a working market open takes careful planning. Before work began on the hall, we built a temporary market structure next to the site on Brook Street, with 36 indoor and 30 outdoor stalls, overspill space for busy days, toilets and a market office.
The main hall stayed open while it was built, so traders could move straight across. Hoarding now separates the construction site from shoppers, and we are working closely with the council’s markets team, traders and the local community as the restoration progresses. Levelling Up funding comes with a fixed deadline, and our programme is planned to return the restored hall to Huddersfield in Spring 2028.