SHIPLEY COLLEGE & SALTAIRE COLLECTION COLLABORATEON CAHFT CENTRE.

A new £6M Community, Arts, Heritage and Future Technology Centre in the heart of Saltaire is being delivered by Shipley College and the Saltaire Collection and will benefit both local people and visitors. 

It will also become the new home for the Saltaire Collection – a large collection of historic artefacts and documents relating to the history of the World Heritage Site. There will be a public exhibition space, and community classroom to enable people to learn more about the history of Saltaire. The Saltaire Collection is on its way to Museum status, but will not get there without a location that the public can access every day to share this wonderful Historical Collection.

Alongside five modern new classrooms, the current proposals include a civic garden to the front of the building and a publicly-accessible rooftop exhibition garden - intended to be open during the daytime. 

Diana Bird, Principal at Shipley College explained: “The new building will create new public green spaces and a permanent storage and exhibition space to tell the story of Saltaire to visitors - something that our village does not currently have.”

Maggie Smith, Trustee of the Saltaire Collection said: “Our collection provides a unique insight into the lives of Saltaire residents and workers since its foundation in 1853, covering the many dramas and changes from the village’s early days until today. We are so excited that, after many years of commitment from our marvellous volunteers and researchers, we will soon be able to share these stories with everyone.” The Saltaire Collection is on its way to Museum status, but will not get there without a location that the public can access every day to share this wonderful collection.

The current proposals also include new modern public toilets and changing facilities, which were a core requirement of Shipley Town Council, one of the project stakeholders. 

Shipley College has long protected historic Saltaire buildings from becoming derelict, especially in the 1980s and early 1990s. The College also partly manages Victoria Hall which is a commercial venue with a small team who work to hire out its facilities and often receives visitors whose expectations it cannot meet.

The design and development ran alongside public engagement and consultation, as well as guidance from the Council’s planning authority and Historic England, to ensure the plans protect the Outstanding Universal Value of Saltaire.