Historic church set for conversion into apartments and community centre with business space

Plans to convert a historic church into a complex of flats, a community centre and commercial use are under consultation with Salford planners. The submission is for the Grade II-listed Chapel Street and Hope United Reformed Church which is more than 200 years old.

Applicant Chapel Street Community Centre wants to create a ‘mixed-use’ development comprising 15 apartments, flexible commercial and business service use on the ground floor, community use with an upward extension and storage in the basement. The building fronts onto Chapel Street, close to its junction with Bloom Street and New Bailey Street in an area known as the Chapel Wharf Neighbourhood.

A design and access statement from architect MCK Associates Ltd says the need to preserve the overall footprint of the chapel – the entrance, hall and northern vestries and basements – is to be considered within the design but potentially with ‘internal reconfiguration’. “The basement has suffered from rot and a large portion of the floor has been removed together with most of the walls/partitions leaving an open plan space,” it says.

The building was first Grade II-listed in 1980, but dates back to 1819. A plan to re-establish the first floor of the building which was removed in the 1950s is part of the proposal. The basement and ground floor will be converted to provide a room for the chapel and new commercial space providing the potential for local businesses to rent out the space. 

“Additional upper floors will be introduced both within the original structure and also at roof level providing residential accommodation,” the statement says. “The proposed accommodation has been designed to be spacious and will provide greater floor space than the standard apartments usually available in the city centre. The design of the new roof extension has been carefully considered and a review of the surrounding area has highlighted a number of similar additions.”

The building is close to other significant properties in the area, including Grade II-listed No.6 and Salford House, Bloom Street which is on the immediate northern boundary of the Church; the Southern Railway Viaduct and Colonnade; and the Egerton Arms pub which is classed as a heritage asset.