Sovereign Design House
Huddersfield, UK
project overview
Converting a Grade II-listed building to create exhibition and gallery space
The Sovereign Design House was originally built in 1955, providing purpose-built washing facilities for the workers at the then-adjacent Broadbent Foundry. We have a long history with the building, having acted as architects for the initial construction (then operating as Abbey Hanson Rowe).
The building was awarded Grade II-listing in 2009 as a rare, if not unique, example of a purpose-built bath house for foundry workers. The heating system is Grade I-listed, while the use of local stone distinguishes the structure from other similar buildings. The Sovereign Design House is now the last remaining building on the Broadbent Foundry site on Queen Street South.
heritage
Modernising a heritage bath house
We retained the exterior of the refurbished Sovereign Design House, to highlight the key historic features of the Grade II-listed building while ensuring accessible entrance to the building. We also conducted some landscaping works to the surrounding space, giving an improved view of the building.
![External Before v2](https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/External-Before-v2.jpg?w=800&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015912&s=480b465ce5f32b966d1e47a68ea76cdc 800w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/External-Before-v2.jpg?w=1100&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015912&s=58b0bbc407772f615a5f9d9122a7f005 1100w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/External-Before-v2.jpg?w=1300&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015912&s=d8b8083d61fbbcb4d59e5a4f24464097 1300w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/External-Before-v2.jpg?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015912&s=6b46e4e4908c46fa618e83cdedb5505e 1600w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/External-Before-v2.jpg?w=1920&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015912&s=c41b9e9c54532ad00bb507c20e973f03 1920w)
![External Before](https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/External-Before.jpg?w=800&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015912&s=314e4b2b9a7648cb3a7a06219eda7359 800w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/External-Before.jpg?w=1100&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015912&s=7fd95aa972df4ce53c7a3e355382650a 1100w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/External-Before.jpg?w=1300&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015912&s=aa6c6755c896c17ba37806c69da08494 1300w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/External-Before.jpg?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015912&s=1bcd294fb57119e09e6b4a8ef1e1ce43 1600w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/External-Before.jpg?w=1920&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015912&s=48d860148ceac506c66aeff4d2ddfcfc 1920w)
Can you have imagined, after showering away the grime after a hard day’s graft in the foundry, that this interesting but workaday building would one day be ingeniously repurposed as a coffee house and exhibition space.”
Professor Bob Cryan
Vice-Chancellor, University of HuddersfieldTransformation
Factory bath house to art exhibition
The Sovereign Design House was purchased as part of the University of Huddersfield’s campus expansion plans. Part of which involved the conversion of the building into an exhibition and gallery space for students and staff to exhibit art, alongside café facilities.
The new design aims to promote connectivity to the surrounding campus. Situated across from the Barbara Hepworth Building, which we also designed, we landscaped the Sovereign Design House site to provide an access route to and from the School of Art, Design, and Architecture. The design also promotes accessibility, incorporating a three-storey platform lift from the basement to roof levels. supporting the increase of gallery visitors and ensuring the café and gallery’s commercial viability.
Before work began, the bath house was in a poor condition. The university aimed to protect the rare building, modernising and restoring it to use while retaining as many historic features as possible. The university also wanted to maximise the 371m2 available floor space.
The design now maximises daylight, creating a more spacious environment for staff and visitors. The partial demolition of an existing ground floor slab has created a central, double-height void, with light and airy spaces at basement and ground floor level. Natural light fills the gallery spaces, which otherwise would have been in darkness.
We have also designed the building to maximise efficiency, with the café naturally ventilated, automated windows operated via CO2 and rain activated sensors to manage the building’s temperature through the building management system.
![5](https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/5.jpg?w=800&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015910&s=19e7ee692a20de7cb86f96677a7e3256 800w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/5.jpg?w=1100&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015910&s=17caaedb7a59910da0c8bc3d72ded774 1100w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/5.jpg?w=1300&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015910&s=897806125682779b692f72eab78f2b9c 1300w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/5.jpg?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015910&s=041adcd4b1a9bda20da4f656502646c5 1600w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/5.jpg?w=1920&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015910&s=2a011f2f884c9b805ee39cb54aa9abca 1920w)
remodelling
Creating new spaces
All of the spaces within the former bath house were redesigned to ensure that the building felt spacious and light. Lockers from former changing spaces were used as decoration in the café, and old shower heads decorate the walls, preserving key features and showing the building’s original purpose.
![Internal After 3](https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/Internal-After-3.jpg?w=800&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015912&s=9b88f25adf94a2d9f7549f83c860cb50 800w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/Internal-After-3.jpg?w=1100&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015912&s=1501f87aff0e007af45122463c7a3cf5 1100w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/Internal-After-3.jpg?w=1300&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015912&s=32668cbde15ca8c5351c698996451aa8 1300w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/Internal-After-3.jpg?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015912&s=d7bb138bf569215f934af905990dd444 1600w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/Internal-After-3.jpg?w=1920&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015912&s=391b72f89b4989d979ee7afc1d06f960 1920w)
![Internal Before 3](https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/Internal-Before-3.jpg?w=800&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015913&s=5cc23ca2027e4bf7896c7588789dd00f 800w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/Internal-Before-3.jpg?w=1100&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015913&s=e737ea134ef6dafdd6008c0a66d43b1d 1100w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/Internal-Before-3.jpg?w=1300&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015913&s=74a3c3a14b048b75a8618cd4dcff60b2 1300w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/Internal-Before-3.jpg?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015913&s=0704ac6044640b420751a0cdc5f729e4 1600w, https://ahr-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Projects/Sovereign-Design-House/Internal-Before-3.jpg?w=1920&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1684015913&s=6056291556df89a96125425879c2e972 1920w)
concept
Achieving modernisation while preserving history
The building has been modernised while respecting and enhancing original features. Exposed brickwork and concrete floors express the building’s materiality, while the provision of accessible WCs on each floor and a lift system ensure accommodations for all visitors.
The gallery is located at basement level, with some space having no windows. This provides an excellent display setting for audio-visual art displays and was a key requirement for the University as part of the provision for high-quality exhibition space.
We worked to restore the building’s unique roof terrace and first-floor sun lounge to their original form and dimensions. By incorporating several original lockers, terrazzo shower screens and heads in their original position in the café, we have created a unique space, sympathetic to the original design.
The building’s use of local stone was also a key distinguishing feature. All stone was carefully removed during the refurbishment, numbered, and reinstalled in the exact same order to retain the building’s heritage.
Since completion, the Sovereign Design House has proven popular with both students and academics as a place to dine, socialise, and view the exhibitions.
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