Our proposal for Newtons of Bury is to convert the existing ground floor shop into a selection of offices, meeting rooms and dedicated coworking space; and redevelop the upper floors into dedicated office space. The vision for the development is to create a community of entrepreneurs, start up businesses and like-mi
nded individuals in the centre of Bury, by providing flexible offices and coworking space that address the changing nature of working life. It will be a place where people can meet, discuss, collaborate and take their business ideas further. In this way we hope the environment could be a real asset to Bury town centre and the local economy. The coworking space will be a shared working environment, which is more informal than serviced offices. It addresses the changing dynamic in the way small businesses work and want to use office space, by providing flexibility in floorspace on a pay-as-you-go basis, without commitment of long leases. It is a response to the changing nature of working life in the digital age, with an increase in freelancers, self employed and business startups all looking for places to work. We are proposing a change of use from shops to offices, but keeping the essence of retail - with the active street frontages and ground floor spaces open to the public that the coworking space provides. We believe that a change of use to offices in this particular location is suitable because it would enhance vitality and viability of the area by providing a complementary and appropriate use to the surrounding retail shops, will provide facilities for local community needs, and diversify the office typology currently on offer within Bury Town Centre. In the proposal, the design and appearance of the retail frontage will remain as it currently is, including the large street level windows and the “Newton’s of Bury” signage that is already in place. By doing so we hope to conserve the traditional town centre character and retail street frontage, and maintain a link with the historic use of the building. Internally the ground floor use is proposed to be co-working space along the street frontage, the nature of this space combined with the facilities provided will bring increased activity to the display windows and maintain consistency with the surrounding buildings.
