Award winning designer will bring splash of colour to major Manchester development
An award winning interiors design firm has been appointed by property company Bruntwood to inject its renowned brand of creativity into the commercial buildings at Manchester’s newest city centre neighbourhood.
Atul Bansal, co-founder of Sheila Bird Group and the man responsible for creating “the world’s coolest office” for fashion brand Missguided, will work with Bruntwood over the next two years to shape the look and feel of the commercial buildings at Circle Square.
Atul Bansal
Atul has already brought his highly recognisable brand of office design to a number of leading digital and creative businesses in the North West, including a number of existing Bruntwood customers such as social media marketing agency Social Chain – whose office ball pool and treehouse meeting room were recently featured in ITV drama Cold Feet – and data and artificial intelligence company Peak at Neo.
Atul was also instrumental in the design of the spaces at the Bright Building at Manchester Science Park and will work closely with Bruntwood from developing the design concept for the commercial buildings right the way through to delivery.
Bradley Topps, of Bruntwood, said: “Atul and the Sheila Bird team deliver extraordinary and engaging spaces which are all about community – they design in a way that celebrates what is unique about people and place and when you do this, you create something that adds to the fabric of the City, which is something Bruntwood is so passionate about.
“There is already such a huge buzz, from some amazing companies who want to bring their teams to Circle Square, so we have a real responsibility to deliver on our vision that love, by creating a place that will help the companies that move here scale, attract talent, raise investment and importantly connect and innovate.
He added: “Circle Square is a considerable project with a huge responsibility; it will soon be a totally new district for the city. But like all new neighbourhoods it needs noise, conservation and excitement to bring it to life which is what I’m looking forward to doing when working with Bruntwood.
Peak Neo offices
“I love creating spaces that encourage people to talk, have fun and love what they do – which is what we plan to bring to the commercial proposition at Circle Square. Remember, each place is unique – there is no one size fits all approach to what we do, which is why it is so important to be working with the Bruntwood team right the way through the process.
“I want Circle Square to celebrate what Manchester is all about, it’s what our great city needs – places which keep evolving and growing and not standing still stuck in a trend time warp. I am passionate about helping to shape communities by encouraging people to talk to each other – this will create the noise and the conversations that are needed for great thoughts and ideas to be shared.
“Our thinking does not start in the building – it’s not on the ground floor either, but what’s outside it and all around it. We already have a wonderful large green space at the centre of Circle Square and this space needs to belong to the people who use it, when you get these spaces right you encourage wonderful things like Hatch to happen. It’s loud, exciting and fresh – a place where people want to hang out and that’s what we’re looking forward to expand on.”
Founded 30 years ago, Manchester based Sheila Bird Group works with a range of clients including multinational virtual reality and augmented reality software developer EON Reality and global fast fashion brand Missguided.
Circle Square is being scaled at pace and will be delivered over three phases with over two thirds of the scheme completed by 2020, including 400,000 sq. ft of commercial office space which is already under construction, 1,700 new homes and 100,000 sq ft of ground floor retail and leisure space for shops, studios, bars and restaurants.
This speed of delivery and co-ordinated completion will ensure an amazing day-one experience for everyone joining the neighbourhood in 2020. It reflects the high standards Bruntwood, its joint venture partner Select Property Group and the retained agents Knight Frank, JLL and Savills share in delivering the vision.
Two hotels will bring visitors to the neighbourhood, adding to the bustle of the 2,500 people that will be living at Circle Square.
With one of the largest green spaces in the city centre, Circle Square will be an urban oasis at the top of the Oxford Road Corridor.
