Behind the award-winning restoration of Doncaster Corn Exchange

The Grade II listed Corn Exchange, once the beating heart of local trade, has undergone an award-winning £5m transformation to restore its historic character and create a vibrant new destination for events, markets, and the community. 

Designed by William Watkins in 1870, the Corn Exchange became the centre of Doncaster’s trading after King Richard I granted its charter, and was used as a hub for trading corn.  

The building suffered a devastating fire in 1994, with a subsequent refurbishment and introduction of a mezzanine floor a few years later. However, with only 40% of the building being occupied by retailers in the more recent years, it fell into a state of disrepair over time. Quite the opposite of what the building was initially designed for in the 1800’s. 

Civic were appointed as structural and civil engineers, working alongside Group Ginger who were the lead design and architects, to support Doncaster City Council restore the Corn Exchange as part of a £5m market rejuvenation. Our team worked on the demolition of the more modern mezzanine addition to the building, which also included stairs linking it to the surrounding galleries. Civic also worked on the remediations required to the ground floor slab following a change in levels to facilitate the introduction of new toilets facilities and all the below ground drainage upgrades. 

Further work included designing a striking new lightweight feature stair to the gallery spaces on both sides of the building and installing platform lifts with supporting structures that had to be coordinated through the existing gallery floor structure. 

Now fully restored, the building has evolved into a vibrant destination for pop-up events and concerts – bringing fresh energy and activity to Doncaster city centre. 

We’re excited to share that it recently won ‘Heritage Project of the Year’ at the South Yorkshire Insider Property Awards. 

Speaking about the project’s recent success, Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, said: “We are delighted that the Corn Exchange has been selected as the South Yorkshire Property Awards’ first-ever ‘Heritage Project of the Year’. An iconic piece of local history, this is a new-and-improved venue and business hub for our city centre that has a lot to offer to our residents, visitors and businesses alike. I would encourage everyone to come down and experience it for themselves.

“Of course, restoring the Corn Exchange to its former glory was a massive undertaking and I am incredibly proud of the entire team who worked so hard to make this project happen. They truly deserve all the praise and recognition. Businesses are set to move into the final few units in the Corn Exchange over the summer, alongside a range of events that are planned."

Tom Audsley, associate and structural engineer here at Civic, who lead work on the project, said:

“It’s been a privilege to work with Group Ginger and the City of Doncaster Council on this historic building to give it a new lease of life.

The ethos and commitment to heritage from all teams involved made it a very enjoyable and fulfilling project to work on. Retrofitting buildings and historic spaces is becoming increasingly popular, in a bid to preserve the historic fabric of our towns and cities, but also to reduce embodied carbon in the built environment. I hope to see the rest of the historic building be redeveloped in the near future.”

Massive congrats to our team that worked on this project!

This adds to our increasing portfolio of work on historic buildings, following projects such as Campfield Market, Tileyard North, Mackie Mayor, Picturedrome.