Conservation Management Planning for Manchester Jewish Museum

The Project

We acted as Historic Buildings Consultant in the early stages of Manchester Jewish Museum’s Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) application for longer-term building conservation, repair and redevelopment. We prepared a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for the premises.

“It was a privilege to work with Manchester Jewish Museum on this fascinating project. I’m so proud to have contributed towards protecting such an important heritage asset within Manchester’s Jewish community to ensure that the building and its significance will be preserved for the benefit of future generations.”

Peter Lloyd, Managing Director

Inspect

Our involvement comprised of a series of meetings with the Museum’s CEO and Curator to understand user requirements and the direction and strategy of the Museum in the years to come.

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Research

During the early project stages, we undertook comprehensive desk-based research into the Museum, its history and former use as a Synagogue. A gazetteer was produced to help understand the fabric in each room of the building. This linked into the critical part of the Conservation Management Plan which was the statement of significance which assessed historical, evidential, aesthetical and communal significance of the site. We then produced an options appraisal looking at long-term viability of the building. This was agreed and signed off by the client.

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Results

This work eventually led to the museum being awarded £3M in Heritage Lottery Funding and its subsequent reopening in Spring 2021. The Museum now has an extension sympathetic with the former synagogue building, which enables a greater audience and activity level whilst rightly preserving the significant areas of the former synagogue.