The Interfold Express

Designer’s Voice:

The Interfold Express, an adaptive reuse project in the heart of Crewe, Chesire, employs a ‘fabric first’ approach, isolating internal layers of construction and program based on acoustic, thermal control, and light needs of each space. Architectural principles of light and geometrical modularity create an effervescent, contextually driven, façade design that sensibly incorporates values of heritage and importance of engineering in its location through its technically advanced, tessellated façade design. Interfold Express, formerly known as Crewe Heritage Centre, derives its name from an amalgam of the design’s geometrical ‘folding’ design inspired by origami pleating, and an ode to the railway history of Crewe.

It reduces its operational carbon through a series of sensible passive design choices, regulating thermal mass and acoustics inside the theatre and exhibition space, which are further electrically powered by on-site PV panels. Embodied carbon is controlled through a series of adaptive reuse and recycling approaches of materials readily available on-site and alternatively new materials where necessary locally sourced in Crewe. Rapid, economically efficient design choices lead to off-site fabrication techniques, reducing on-site waste, disruption and emissions in this contemporary restoration and extension project.