Established in 1993 as Continuity in Architecture, a studio for research informed teaching, the atelier specialises in the sustainable adaptation of buildings, landscape and urban space within historic contexts. In 2023, the Atelier strengthened its expertise to include Landscape Architecture and became known as Continuity.

We believe that an elemental approach to studying architectural and landscape technology within historic settings has never been more pressing. Inspired by our forebears’ systematic analysis of contextual resource – their application of ready means and traditional craft techniques originating from vibrant environments, we strive to rediscover sustainable, layered, nuanced, contextual and environmentally appropriate solutions for our time. We are interested in the distinct relationships buildings and landscapes have with climate and place and how they can express the nature of a region and represent a particular culture or situation. We are interested in the articulation of space; how interiors and the exteriors interrelate, whether explicit or not, and how spaces can be grouped or connected to form complex environments. We are interested in why buildings and landscapes are designed and their morphology. We are interested in detail - how intimate details and the expression of connections reinforce and characterise the whole.

In 2023-24 the MArch2 Year opened with ‘The Horses’ - a poem by Ted Hughes rooted in the Lancashire-Yorkshire Pennine landscape. It is from this poem that we took the title and set the tone for our project work: ‘Hearing the Horizons Endure’.

Todmorden is our territory. It is a small former mill town of around 15,000 people located at the head of the narrow Upper Calder Valley. Todmorden’s strong architectural and urban identity, defined by cotton and wool industrial heritages, topography and climate reflects both counties. In 2015, the town experienced severe flooding from Walsden Water, a tributary of the River Calder that runs through the town.

In approaching the town we were interested in the following questions around our year-long theme of resilience:

  • As a post-industrial setting experiencing deprivation as well as employment, health and social exclusion, how can Todmorden’s communities enhance resilience to address social, economic and physical decline? [Economic Resilience]

  • What are the opportunities to mitigate demolition of both modest and significant architectural heritage through sensitive extension, retrofit and adaptation? How can we promote stewardship of the built environment, enhance resilience, and prevent wasting embodied energy already invested in existing structures? How might we celebrate the lasting value of past peoples’ work? [Urban Resilience]

  • How can we design to mitigate or manage the effects of climate change I.e. flooding? How can we design to avoid depletion of energy, water and raw materials; prevent environmental degradation and promote wellbeing through liveable, comfortable and safe environments? [Environmental Resilience]

  • Driven by sustainability and community agendas, Todmorden has established a strong volunteer movement based on commons, local entrepreneurism and initiative – how can architectural intervention further build community self-reliance? [Social Resilience]

As is our pattern and preference, the resulting projects are singularly rooted in the settlement, joining past to future in continuity.

MArch2

LOOMLANE QUARTER : Reviving Todmorden into Modern Mixed-Use Development

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Crescent Mill Agricultural Centre

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RURAL ART CENTRE FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED

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Echoes of Eras, Whispers of Resilience

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Polluted Pastures: An Agriculture & Water Research Centre in Lumbutts

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The Home of Storytelling

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Hope Street Care at the Mental Health Marina

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SCAITCLIFFE HALL | Literature & Cultural Centre

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Waterside Technical School

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From the Valley to the Moors.

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Polluted Pastures: An Agriculture & Water Research Centre in Lumbutts, West Yorkshire

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Weaving Nostalgia

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Todmade: Todmorden Tapestry

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Frame x Frame

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Todmorden's Heterotopia : An Everyday Vernacular Hub

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Echoes of Renewal: Crafting Musical Spaces from Mill to Bunker

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SCAITCLIFFE HALL | Literature & Culture Centre

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HOTEL TOD

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Reviving Todmorden: A Tale of Industrial Renaissance

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Adamroyd Mill Craftworks

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The Art of Ageing

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Commercial Street: Todmorden Arts Centre

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A Canal-side Swimming Center in Todmorden

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Todemorden Visual Arts Center

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Professional Studies

Professional Studies 1

PS1: FUN PALACE (RE)DEFINED

“Choose what you want to do — or watch someone else doing it. Learn how to handle tools, paint, babies, machinery, or just listen to your favourite tune. Dance, talk or be lifted up to where you can see how other people make things work. Sit out over space with a drink and tune in to what’s happening elsewhere in the city.” Cedric Price and Joan Littlewood, 1961.

Our approach is grounded in the notion of context and contextualism, which considers architecture through a deep analysis and nature of the urban environment. We think buildings not as solitary objects, but as inherent pieces of the cities, which encourage a sense of belonging and inclusion of people. Our project this year investigates the idea of urban re-activation and architecture that is open to indeterminate development that could change in time according to its use, while enabling human creativity and appropriation.

This year we worked with the community of the Todmorden Hippodrome Theatre, in Halifax Road, Todmorden, working on an existing project of expansion of the theatre to open up to the wider community. Students engaged with the concept of Fun Palace and activation of internal and public spaces, through a close investigation of building and occupants.

Professional Studies 2

PS2: FUN PALACE IN DETAIL

In PS2 we started with a critical evaluation of the PS1 design proposals, developing a big diagram of strategies that would support the technical evolution of the designs. We explored how to creatively reuse an existing performance and theatre building and the meaning of crafting its architectural details in the context of Todmorden. This project was about establishing a conversation with the past at an urban level, at a building level, and at a detailed level.

We explored the freedom that comes through conversations with an existing building. Through the building we communicated with its makers, and the communities that followed with their own adaptations. Students engaged in re-using, altering, stripping, dropping, cutting, opening, lining, cladding and extending the existing form, as it is repurposed for modern technical and functional requirements, enabling what is old, redundant, worn, broken to be revived and reappropriated. Next to the technical resolution of their design proposals, students developed a Travelling Cabinet, a wandering device born out of the building itself that travels through the town creating new opportunities for connections, exchanges and finding our way.