Manchester’s city centre has experienced continual redevelopment over the past few years as the city continues to go from strength to strength, attracting more attention than ever before from those looking to live in, work in, and visit the city. The latest addition to this architectural evolution is set to come in the form of the iconic Piccadilly Gardens, with plans to deliver a ‘more colourful, vibrant, safer, and more inviting’ space.
Following a public consultation that took place earlier this year, the plans have now been submitted to Manchester City Council by landscape architecture practice Planit, who ‘design for all life to thrive in balance for today, tomorrow, and the next 200 years.’ The main focus of the plans are to introduce more green space and also include ambitions to host a new event space, remodel the existing children’s play area, and enhance overall accessibility and safety, with improved CCTV and lighting.
Pivoting to a greener space in the heart of the city centre will require the removal of a lot of the existing concrete elements such as low walls and fountains, which was part of Japanese architect Tado Ando’s designs from the £20.7 million revamp back in 2002. There will be some sort of a nod to the initial designs in the redevelopment though, with listed statues set to be retained and enhanced under the new proposals.
Outside of the existing plans that have been submitted, there is also talk of a ‘welcome pavilion’ set to be submitted in a separate planning application, and Manchester City Council have confirmed that ‘the two existing concrete pavilions, which are retail units, will be retained.’
The evolution in urban planning for this key city centre location means exciting things for architecture jobs in Manchester, demonstrating the breadth of projects that the city has to offer outside purely residential endeavours.
Newly elected leader of Manchester City Council, Garry Bridges, has stated that ‘residents have told us loud and clear what they want from Piccadilly Gardens. They want the area to look better and feel safer and that’s exactly what we’re going to deliver.’
Bridges also went on to highlight that ‘this application will see a much-improved space: putting the Gardens back in Piccadilly Gardens, providing a better children’s play area, and supporting a more inviting place all around.’
If the project receives planning consent in its current iteration, work is expected to be completed on the project in 2027. It will be exciting to see this development take shape, transforming a pivotal location in the city centre. It will also be interesting to see if other central locations take on a ‘greener’ focus going forward too, informing future urban design principles.
