Working with Arts Business Consultants, BFF developed a proposal for Wyre Forest District Council, for the refurbishment and remodelling of the Former Carpet Weaving Factory, to provide a new financially sustainable use for the vacant listed buildings. BFF’s project will restore the former carpet factory, partially converted to a Magistrates Court courthouse in 1971 and then abandoned in 2002.

The Former Magistrates’ Court site forms a highly visual gateway to the town. Its easterly façade is the first sight of the town centre as you approach Kidderminster from the railway station and by road from Bromsgrove and South Birmingham. There is a small public landscape area opposite the south west frontage of the main building - Coronation Gardens - which was created in 1952.

The historic Grade II Listed buildings are being retained, refurbished, and revealed, giving them a sustainable future, as an integral part of the vision, supported by carefully designed new interventions which reference the Town’s Heritage.

The project is designed to create a focal point for town centre revival and a regional investment destination focused on the creative, digital and tech sectors. The BFF scheme helped the town secure £20m from the government backed Future High Streets Fund (FHSF).

Plans for the site transform the space into a new community, cultural and creative hub. The project will provide a range of flexible work, performance and production spaces and co- working areas in the main buildings and historic former weaving sheds. It will provide creative and ‘maker space’ equipped with technology to accelerate research & innovation, application, and adoption in key sectors, including advanced manufacturing, healthcare, and the creative industries. The venue will support artistic and creative performance and develop a base of local young talent equipped with the skills needed in a 21st century digitised economy.

This transformation will play a key role in renewing and reshaping Kidderminster town centre, developing a highly visible gateway building whilst re-purposing a significant historic asset. The public space will be enhanced, helping to define the town centre’s identity and provide direction for a pedestrian route through town.

As both a working hub and a site with venues for performance and exhibition, the site will be a destination for both regular users and the wider public from Kidderminster, Worcestershire and the greater Birmingham conurbation