Prescot town square was built in the late 1970s to replace a Victorian covered market hall originally lying just below the high street on a sloping site close to the centre of the town in the North of England. Around that time the old town hall was also demolished, leaving the new square isolated from the main high street, not by much but enough to give very few reasons to go there.

As a consequence the square and public WCs are now almost completely unused, in poor condition and open to vandalism.

Kept in it’s current position, we felt that the same fate would quickly and inevitably fall on the new square, the main cause of the problem remaining unsolved.

So we proposed to move it, slightly uphill, where it could be directly connected to the town high street for people to relax and socialise after visiting the markets, where it would be directly connected to the Prescot Parish Church and available for gatherings before or after social ceremonies or church services, and directly connected to the new Shakespeare North Theatre proposed for the site just to the north.

The square would then lie right at the centre of the town’s main cultural, social and commercial buildings and it would have a use. The slightly more elevated position at the top of the hill would also give views out across the valley towards the river Mersey in the distance and provide the heart of the town with a far better sense of place.

In addition, the project would allow the old site to be re-developed. The new buildings could part enclose the south side of the square with restaurants, cafes, local convenience stores and small offices perhaps and the new development could help fund the construction of the new square.

Designed in association with good friend and serial collaborator Tim Tasker.

Back to all projects