manchester jewish museum hybridizes industrial and religious heritage

with its manchester jewish museum, citizens design bureau presents a restorative intervention of an 1874-built synagogue. the original structure had been built by a jewish community originating from spain, portugal, and north africa and had stood at the center of the city’s textile trade. during the 1980s, the synagogue became a museum — since its initial opening, only a fraction of the collection had ever been displayed. the design team notes that many non-jewish visitors felt nervous entering a building that seemed overtly religious. with the museum’s renovation and extension in corten steel, citizens design bureau celebrates the rich history of the synagogue while rendering it more inviting to the general public.

image by philip vile | @philipvile

citizens design bureau‘s manchester jewish museum sees extensive repairs of the former synagogue. the original 19th century decorative scheme has been recreated following forensic paint analysis through over a century of accumulated layers of brown gloss and magnolia paint. a contemporary extension has been built alongside the synagogue, doubling the size of the museum and hosting a new gallery, café, shop, and collection store organized around a double height atrium. the new building also mediates a difficult context — adjacent to a protected heritage building, but sited within a cluttered and industrial neighborhood. the extension balances its context with industrial corten steel volume, tempered with delicate detailing that references the geographic origins of the moorish inspired architecture of the original synagogue.

image by philip vile

the citizens design bureau-designed manchester jewish museum is an exploration of religious, political, and cultural diversity. the team investigates how the diverse jewish communities in manchester might resonate across society, finding the connective threads of common experience. through the immersive design process, communities were brought together with an ethos that is woven through every aspect of the new building, all on an extremely tight budget of £3.6 million which was further constrained by the unprecedented impact of the pandemic.

image by joel chester fildes