One of Britain’s most celebrated architects and great friend and colleague of Trafford Hall and the NCRC, Richard Rogers, has sadly passed away.
Richard was known for designing some of the world’s most famous buildings including the Pompidou Centre and the Millennium Dome. He was a founding Director of Trafford Hall since its inception in 1988 and the charity’s President from 1991 until 2019.
Richard’s passion for architecture came from creating places for all people and through this passion Richard was instrumental in helping us to establish training programmes that empower residents to shape the places where they live.
As well as Richard’s support and generosity throughout the years to our charity, his legacy at Trafford Hall will be the Segal Rooms. Richard helped to design the building which was constructed by a group of 25 individuals including young unemployed people from the Prince’s Trust on one of our self-build programmes with no experience of construction. The building is the most modern addition to the 18th century grounds of Trafford Hall, but with its environmentally friendly timber frame and living grass roof amidst the woodland landscape, it somehow fits perfectly into the space around it as Richard’s intention.
In 2007, he said: “A very major part of my architecture is about trying to create a world which is influenced for the better through public space and private space.”
Professor Anne Power, Chair of NCRC at Trafford Hall who set up the NCRC charity in collaboration with Richard commented,
“We are truly saddened by the loss of Richard Rogers. He was completely committed to establishing the National Community Resources Centre. He loved meeting with tenants through our training courses and visiting Trafford Hall with his family. Without Richard’s incredible devotion to NCRC at Trafford Hall we would not have been able to positively impact the lives of thousands of people – enabling tenants and young people to have a voice and take action to change the places and spaces that matter to them.”
Today, as part of the Regenda Group, the NCRC continues the work that Richard and the founding Directors started over 30 years ago, by giving people the skills, knowledge, confidence, and connections they need to change the world around them.
