Planning Group member Robert Hutton has been keeping an eye on progress at Leigh Street where the former Birch factory site is being transformed.
There was insufficient room in the Society’s Autumn 2021 newsletter to include his update in full so this post supplements the information within the “Planning Matters” article.
At the centre of the development site is Birch House, a handsome post-Victorian yellow brick warehouse built in 1913 by William Birch. Birch House is located in Leigh Street just off Green Street.
Birch House was surrounded by other more recent additions to the rear of the site accommodating various businesses and of no architectural merit. These buildings have been demolished and now form part of a wider residential development on the same site.
The developer MCR Property Group appear to have been sympathetic with their refurbishment of Birch House. The windows, whilst not retained, are Crittall in style and presumably double glazed retain a degree of authenticity. The bricks and corbels have been cleaned, metal drainage installed and a mansard-style roof line added. The overall development contains 228 properties of studios, one and two bedrooms.
A new steel framed building runs parallel to Birch House, further buildings to the south and west of the site. Balconies have taken shape and some overlook the rear gardens of the properties in Kitchener Road.
A pair of semi-detached houses probably earlier than Birch House and what may have been a foreman’s house built onto it all facing Leigh Street were demolished for further flats to the north of the site.
A recent visit to the site showed much change – a new steel frame facing Leigh Street has been erected. It is assertive in appearance, but difficult to pass comment until it is completed. It is certainly an intensively built site but is the best use of brownfield land. The demolition of the houses mentioned previously, whilst unfortunate, was probably the best outcome as Birch House was in a very poor state and to delay development could have been more detrimental.
Here are some pictures which show pre-development, demolition and the current state. Robert is hoping to arrange a tour of the site with other Planning Group members, and if successful, he will report back in a future Newsletter.
