Planning application submitted for 1950s Manchester building

Planning has been submitted to build a three-story pavilion offering 15,000 sq ft of high-quality, independent office space near Manchester Airport.

The new building is proposed in the existing grounds of Manchester International Office Centre, MIOC.

Built for a single tenancy, the office will frame the large expanse of lawned space at MIOC and take advantage of the views and green landscaping throughout the entire site.

Les Lang, director at Till Asset Management, said: “We’ve been looking to offer a single tenancy, stand-alone office provision for some time.

“This application has taken into account many aspects of the space we were keen to highlight. We’re lucky at MIOC that the site is large and surrounded by greenery – we didn’t want this development to feel like it was detracting from that.”

Developed for Infinity (MIOC LLP), Altrincham-based Pozzoni Architecture has worked with investment managers, Till Asset Management, to create plans that offer sympathetic design to the current 1950s building, with state-of-the-art accommodation.

With a development value of around £5m, the office will have its own parking and cycling provision, an outdoor terrace on the second floor and access to a large lawned area for socialising, alongside tenants of the current building.

Jamie Wood, director at Pozzoni, said: “Working to create a design for a stand-alone building in the grounds of MIOC has been exciting.

“The original building is really quite iconic – we needed to do it justice while creating a space that a company would see all the benefits of a modern and flexible office.

“Importantly, we didn’t want to detract from MIOC and by positioning it, as per the plans, the building will have minimal impact on other tenants and the setting of the original building.”

Lang added: “At the same time we’ll be landscaping much of the green space for the benefit of all tenants at MIOC while protecting and celebrating the amount of mature trees and space for people to use for exercise.

“Even though we’re in a turbulent business environment right now, we feel it’s essential to push forward with projects like this for economic recovery and future requirements.”

MIOC is situated at a prominent position at the junction of Styal Road on the A555 with easy connections to Manchester Airport, the M56, Metrolink and Heald Green train station.

The original building was designed by Cruickshank and Seaward in 1953 but has undergone a substantial refurbishment programme over recent years.