Short-listed competition entry for the creation of a robust public realm around the new Head Office building, envisaged as being environmentally sensitive and creating a recognisable sense of place that engages with the neighbourhood, with the wider Manchester community and beyond. Our main approach comprised:

 

• More effectively connecting the site to Victoria Station, Cathedral Gardens and the City Centre commercial core through bold public realm features;

• Changed priority treatment to key streets, and complementary improvements to the Station frontage;

• Inviting access and creating a lively new focus to the Listed Estates Square;

• Providing for a range of leisure, cultural and amenity facilities, reinforcing the arrival experience to the HQ;

• Integrating the remains of Arkwright’s Mill within the new public realm framework; and

• Incorporating green technologies as medium term use for phased development sites.