£16m Arkwright House revamp nearing completion

The £16m refurbishment by Catalyst Capital of the landmark building Arkwright House in central Manchester is nearing completion.

This follows the installation of the roof and glazing at the rear making the seven-storey building wind and water tight. All work on the building is scheduled to be finished in the summer.

Once completed, Arkwright House will provide about 98,000sq ft office space over seven floors with a basement carpark and extensive cyclist facilities.

Catalyst Capital acquired Arkwright House, which overlooks Parsonage Gardens, off Deansgate in 2014.

The Grade II-listed building was originally designed in a neo-classical style by renowned local architect Harry S Fairhurst (also responsible for many of the most iconic buildings on Whitworth Street) for the English Sewing Cotton Company and completed in 1937.

Retaining much of the original character, the refurbishment and remodel of the building has been designed by architects, Sheppard Robson and the main contractor is Vinci Construction.

The building will provide high specification, air conditioned Grade A office space with natural light, views over the garden square and high ceilings.

The new 7,000 sqft penthouse has extensive glazing and far reaching views.  Work on the internal space has been continuing apace in the majority of areas that were not affected by the completion of the glazing works.

Chris Cheap, regional senior director of GVA which is joint agent with CBRE, said: ““We are delighted to have achieved this important milestone in the refurbishment of Arkwright House.

“The structural changes we have made combined with the quality of the refurbishment means that we will effectively be delivering a new building into the central Manchester market.

“Catalyst Capital has a proven track record for sensitively refurbishing period buildings and bringing them back to life so that they are suitable for modern occupiers as seen as Ship Canal House and 26 Cross Street.  We look forward to unveiling the finished product this summer.”