Check out the skyscraper Gary Neville wants to build in Manchester city centre
This is the revised design after plans for two towers were scrapped.
Plans for a single skyscraper as part of Gary Neville's St Michael’s development in Manchester city centre are going on display today, giving the public a chance to have their say on the new-look tower following tweaks to the original design.
The plans originally featured twin towers but, after some criticism, that's been reduced down to a single tower which would be located on the western edge of the site, away from the Town Hall.
The tower is 134.5m high – 2m lower than the highest point of the previous scheme and will be slimmer and less obtrusive when viewed from St Ann’s Square.
Developers describe the new design for the 39 storey tower as "a unique lozenge shape, whose profile presents a slender elevation to all aspects of the city. Its distinctive crown is a floating canopy supported by a three-storey colonnade to residential space below. Extensive glazing and a light bronze façade, bring a lighter, more transparent approach than the original tower design."
The scheme is made up of 147,000 sq ft of office space, 32,000 sq ft leisure space, 170 residential apartments over 19 storeys and a 200-bedroom 5* hotel over 12 storeys.
The rooftop on the scheme’s smaller office building will have 25,000 sq of outdoor food and drink outlets with a separate entrance accessible to the public from the ground floor.
Gary Neville said: “This scheme has attracted national interest as well as passionate views in the Manchester community. We promised to present the tower and rooftop designs to seek responses before we submit the final plan for consent, and so we’re delighted to reveal them now.
“We were encouraged by the generally positive response to July’s consultation and by calls from certain quarters to be bold in our ambition and create something remarkable on the city’s skyline.
“We have kept faith with our central vision of creating a true world-class, mixed-use destination with a signature development of the highest quality including residential living, Grade A offices, a five-star hotel, exciting retail and leisure units and unique outdoor spaces.
“The confidence of investors and occupiers has been retained throughout this process and, subject to planning approval, we will be on site by spring/early summer 2018.”
Stephen Hodder of Hodder + Partners - a former President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) - says: “A tall building is, by its very nature, viewed in the round, it must never turn its back on the city. We have always maintained that the tower should have a north/south orientation, with residential accommodation facing east and west, presenting an elegant 'blade-like' face to St. Ann's Square. This suggested a building whose shape was narrow at the ends, and wider at its waist.”
Final plans are to be submitted for planning consent in September.
Members of the public are invited to view the new designs at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester from 11am-7pm on Wednesday August 23rd. Details of the plans can also be found on the development’s website at www.st-michaels.com