Plans for Great Northern Warehouse to go on show
Trilogy Real Estate, developer of Great Northern Warehouse and surrounding public space, has organised two public exhibitions on the project.
The first one takes place on the ground floor of the building tomorrow (Thursday, August 10) between 3pm and 8pm and at the same time and place on Thursday, August 24.
The consultation will be used to gauge public opinion in advance of a planning application for the first phase of a 10-year programme of refurbishment, conversion and redevelopment that will see the transformation of the site into a new city quarter for central Manchester.
The events will showcase initial ideas for the first phase of development produced by the design team appointed in March: Manchester-based architect SimpsonHaugh, with the Altrincham-based landscape consultants Planit IE working on the reconfiguration of Great Northern Square.
The initial designs, which go on display at the Great Northern Warehouse on August 10 and 24, are informed by extensive market research undertaken earlier in the year with Manchester-based consultation experts Pathways, who canvassed the views of over 200 people that regularly use the space or live nearby. A series of ‘Spaceshaper’ workshops that involved a cross-section of local stakeholders examined the quality of the existing public space at Great Northern Warehouse and aimed to ensure the plans for redevelopment are informed by local opinion.
Robert Wolstenholme, managing director of Trilogy Real Estate, said: “Places that are considerately designed and that function well for the people that use them have a real and positive impact on people’s everyday lives.
“We wanted to understand exactly what works from the people that use Great Northern, and learn what we could do to make sure that any new proposals improve the public’s experience of the area.
“The first display of the designs for Great Northern Warehouse, Great Northern Square and Deansgate Terrace will allow us to get feedback on that initial market research, and to talk to the public about how our initial designs respond.
Trilogy Real Estate and partners Peterson Group of Hong Kong say their ultimate aim is to reinvent the Great Northern Warehouse as a as a world-class mixed-use quarter for Manchester. The Strategic Regeneration Framework for the area was approved by Manchester City Council in February allowing the £300m plans, masterplanned by Stirling Prize-winning architect Will Alsop, to move forward.
Representatives of Trilogy Real Estate and the design team will be on-hand at both consultations to answer any queries.
