Arts Thread

Procession Through Place is an adaptive reuse project that transforms the North Crewe Signal Box into a civic landmark, reviving the spirit of the Crewe Carnival through architecture. Rooted in the town’s industrial heritage and cultural legacy, the scheme reimagines the site as a space for connection, celebration, and continuity. At its core, the reinstated “Big Bill” clock tower stands as a symbol of memory and movement. The carnival inspired interventions blur the boundaries between old and new, audience and performer, public and private, creating an inclusive spatial experience that invites interaction, reflection, and celebration. The carnival procession continues through the building itself, winding upward along a central staircase that forms the project’s vertical spine. Above this stairwell, a series of skylights creates a procession of light, drawing people up through the structure and leading them toward a performance space crowning the scheme. Made from paper and timber, this lightweight room glows from within, allowing silhouettes of the carnival to emerge and animate its translucent walls. The façade itself becomes a key performer in this celebration. Bespoke Corten panels, patterned from archival 1960s imagery of the Crewe Carnival, animate the elevations. Like a carnival in motion, the building dances with its users, continually adapting to their rhythms and rituals, transforming the signal box into a living monument of collective memory and imagination.