Market Place Buildings near Completion

Kettering’s Market Place buildings are nearing the end of structural completion as scaffolding is gradually removed from the buildings’ elevations.

With the roof works completed, middle building rendered and windows installed on the first and second floors; visitors to Kettering Market Place can now see for themselves the realisation of a development that has been two years in the making.

The buildings will bring both businesses and residents to the area contributing to the feel of the Market Place as an area that people want to return to.

Paul Thomas, project manager at Kettering Borough Council said:

“With the scaffolding coming down we are entering an exciting phase of the project with completion in sight and well within time. We have taken extra special care in the design to ensure the finished building will complement its historic setting and this can now really be seen.”

Notes to Editor:

1. The success of the Market Place has already been evident with local, regional, national and international events being staged in the new space and over a million pounds of investment in the buildings surrounding it. The Market Place project has been paid for using Growth Fund from the Homes and Communities Agency allocated via Northamptonshire County Council and with the support of the North Northants Development Company.  This funding has been won by the Council effectively bidding for the money – as such it is only available to be spent on the scheme itself. Had the Council not bid for the funding it is likely that the money would have gone elsewhere.


2. The Market Place, at the centre of the Restaurant Quarter, has recently undergone significant public realm works including the creation of an amphitheatre, tree planting and public art.  These works are anticipated to be the catalyst which attracts the new uses and regenerates this currently under used space.


3. The approved Market Place Restaurants will see the reintroduction of buildings on the southern side i.e. the Market Place Buildings.  Historically the space has been enclosed by built form on three sides.  This sense of enclosure has been eroded by the demolition of the previous buildings on this site in the early 20^th century.  The human scale of the space has been lost leaving the feeling of an open, desolate area with car parking, dominating the southern side.  The aspiration is that with the reintroduction of the buildings in this location a friendlier more intimate space will be created which complements the proposed uses.