Eden council has taken a step forward on a significant project to redevelop a key town centre building.
The authority has appointed architecture firm Haworth Tompkins and TEAM to explore the potential for redevelopment of the Grade II listed town hall in Penrith.
“The town hall is a key civic building and we’re looking forward to exploring its potential to become a sustainable creative asset for Penrith,” explained Steve Tompkins, director at Haworth Tompkins.
Howarth Tompkins has worked with many of the UK’s leading cultural organisations and its projects have won more than 150 major design awards, published and exhibited internationally.
TEAM are cultural consultants and producers based in Eden. In addition to working on the Penrith Town Hall feasibility study, TEAM is also delivering a three-year project to develop capacity and programming opportunities for cultural organisations and artists in Eden.
TEAM’s Conrad Lynch and Deborah Aydon will be leading the project.
They said: “We are thrilled to be working with Eden District Council on this exciting piece of work to build capacity in the arts sector and develop a programme that will delight the people of Eden.
“We look forward to working with artists, makers and companies across the district as we develop ideas for the future.”
TEAM works across the arts; producing, managing, marketing and touring high-quality work from a range of organisations.
Eden District Council is committed to encouraging a vibrant cultural sector as it sees it as key to enabling communities to thrive, as the district embarks on its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eden District Council leader Virginia Taylor said: “The town hall in Penrith is an important civic asset and I’m delighted that these two nationally successful organisations are developing ways to repurpose the building into a vibrant asset for Penrith’s future.
“Town centres everywhere are shifting from places where people go just to buy things, to places where they do things.
“Arts and culture are a key element in that economic offer – they keep communities connected and creative, provide destinations for tourists and visitors, as well as attracting the skilled working-age residents Eden needs”.
