Manchester’s skyline has continuously evolved over the past few years, with more projects than ever before coming to fruition. To meet the demand for new residential and commercial space in the city, a lot of these newer structures are ambitious, large-scale projects, and the newest plans to be approved in the city are not exception, with the tallest skyscraper in Manchester being given the greenlight for the commencement of development.
The massive 78-storey building is set to provide 3,300 homes and is part of a £1 billion development. The building, situated in Regent Retail Park in Salford, will become the third largest building in Britain once finished and it is set to take a decade for construction to be fully completed due to the extremely ambitious nature of the project. This means that Manchester will take the third tallest building title from One Canada Square in Canary Wharf, a location famed for its towering structures, and it will also be 73 metres higher than Manchester’s current largest building which is Deansgate Square.
It has been confirmed that the site will include 660 affordable homes, which is an important consideration for the wider community, as well as a public park, community centre, and spaces for healthcare facilities, once again to benefit residents.
Such a wide-scale project over a prolonged period of time will mean great things for architecture jobs in Manchester and property jobs in Manchester too, firmly placing the city on the country’s architectural map.
According to developers Henley Investment Management, this will be ‘the biggest housing-led development in Salford for 50 years’ and estimates state that this project will bring in an extra £3.7 million into the city each year through revenue sources such as council tax.
Senior Development Manager at Henley Investment Management, Hattie Charlier-Poole, states that ‘it’s very well publicised that the nation as a whole is struggling to build homes, so it is the right place to house a lot of people and a lot of services.’
Manchester City Council’s Lead Member for Planning, Councillor Mike McCusker, stated that ‘660 affordable houses is a huge amount that will have a massive impact on our waiting list and residents in Ordsall whose kids can’t get out the house in their late 30s.’
Having such an ambitious project in Manchester over the next decade will provide the opportunity for continuous growth in architecture jobs in Manchester and property jobs in Manchester too. It will be interesting to see if any other large-scale structures follow suit in the North-West over this time period, signalling a trend across the wider country when it comes to the largest scale structures no longer just being confined to London.
