Circle Square construction team celebrate topping out milestone
Russells Construction has completed the superstructure for the new 16-storey hotel and car park at Circle Square in central Manchester.
The Russells project team and representatives from developer Bruntwood came together on the rooftop to celebrate the milestone.
The hybrid building comprises a 1,014-space car park across the first nine floors, with a 158-bed hotel located on floors nine to 15. The project began in May 2018 and is set to complete in September 2020.
Views from the top looking over the city centre and across Circle Square were captured from the new building in Princess Street.
Located just inside the Mancunian Way, where the A34 enters the city, the Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios concept design will become an eye-catching landmark at an important city centre gateway.
Gareth Russell, Russells Construction director, said: “We’re delighted to be celebrating this important milestone, a key part of an incredible regeneration scheme within our home city.
“The project is on programme as planned and it is fantastic to see the building starting to take shape.
“This has to be one of the most visually unique buildings we have ever worked on and, now the structure is complete, we’ll start installing the aluminium cladding on the hotel section which really will make this one of the most eye-catching buildings in the city.”
The £750m Circle Square neighbourhood is a joint venture between Bruntwood SciTech and Vita Group to create a new urban destination with more than 1,700 new homes, 1.2m sq ft of workspace and in excess of 100,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space.
Circle Square will also be home to Symphony Park, the first and largest new city park in Manchester for generations.
Aisling McNulty, development director, Bruntwood, said: “The view from the roof is incredible and it’s wonderful to be able to see Circle Square as it emerges before us from this vantage point.
“We’re extremely pleased to be celebrating the topping out of this unique building, and looking forward to it opening next year.”
Chris Jones, from Richard Boothroyd & Associates, employer’s agent for Bruntwood on the project, added: “The work undertaken prior to commencement was absolutely crucial in terms of delivering the client’s vision, and it is testament to the hard work of everyone involved that we can see what an incredible building this is shaping up to be as we celebrate this milestone.”
The car park itself is nearing completion, with the internal structures formed and the striking brick exterior cladding being installed. Inside the team will complete the security booths, lighting and line painting ready for the car park to be opened alongside the hotel.
The hotel section above stands on around one quarter of the overall footplate.
Its external structure is now complete and the internal rooms are starting to take shape.
The superstructure for the car park and hotel above is complete
The full height glazing is being installed in the hotel reception, which is on the ninth floor of the building, and the internal fit out has started.
JD Electrical will carry out the electrical engineering works while Walsh will undertake the mechanical aspects. Leach Rhodes Walker is the delivery architect.
The striking aluminium cladding will start to be installed this month (November), and the project is set to be handed over by September 2020, ready for opening, with Russells providing a turnkey service and delivering the hotel complete with decoration and internal fixtures.
