An exhibition of work by art, design, media and architecture students from Manchester Metropolitan University
Jamie Donaldson
Working with the Ultimate Holding Company (UHC), Jamie Donaldson's project addresses the relevance of Hotspur House (previously Medlock Mill) to the success of the large-scale cultural regeneration project occurring at First Street.
The regeneration area includes the new Cornerhouse site and is being marketed as the city of Manchester's new cultural hub.
The project focuses on visualising and mapping issues of land-use change and highlighting reasons why Hotspur House should be redeveloped with the wider cultural context of the area in mind.
The Mill building forms a part of the group of eight 'Chorlton Mills' and represents the only mill of the group that (a) remains unconverted for high-end residential purposes and (b) is not listed as a protected building that forms part of Manchester's heritage as the World's first industrial city.
The fact that the building is unlisted and that it closed as a functioning printing press earlier this year leaves the fate of this piece of Manchester's history uncertain.
However, the proximity to First Street offers new and exciting possibilities for the mill and the project looks to investigate creative uses of the building in order to keep it functioning for the city for another two hundred years.