Plans submitted for Albert Bridge House vision
Oval Real Estate, the national regeneration specialist, has submitted its planning application to Manchester City Council to redevelop the Albert Bridge House site on Bridge Street and released new images of its proposals.
The submission of the application follows an extensive process of design development, stakeholder engagement and consultation over the past few months, with the Studio Egret West-designed scheme seeking to set a new standard for original, distinctive design in Manchester city centre.
The site is ideally positioned as a gateway between Manchester and Salford. Located between Bridge Street, the River Irwell, St Mary’s Parsonage and Trinity Bridge, it is currently home to Albert Bridge House – the 18-storey office building recently vacated by HMRC – as well as the adjacent Bridge Street car park.
A new sustainable office building would provide around 365,000 sq ft of high quality and flexible workspace, designed to meet the needs of a range of occupiers and bolster Manchester’s already thriving economy. Nineteen storeys at its highest, the office building employs a radical stepped design, with a cascade of accessible green terraces and rooftop spaces to create a truly unique façade.
Providing 367 new build-to-rent homes, the hexagonally designed residential tower would step up from 34 to 45 storeys in height and become a new landmark on the Manchester skyline. Helping to meet the continued high demand for city centre living, the apartments have been designed with a focus on quality, with spacious floorplans, plentiful natural light and internal winter garden amenity.
The residential building also seeks to provide a mix of high quality and unique shared amenity spaces to help foster a sense of community and support wellbeing. Dedicated spaces for residents are proposed to include gym, bouldering wall, rooftop gardens, cinema room and private dining facilities.
Throughout the design development process, a key priority has been to open up access to the riverside and create active ground floor uses. More than 1.2 acres of attractive and welcoming new public realm will include a new public square and an enhanced river walk, complete with woodland glade planting.
Sustainability and wellness proposals include the following target accreditations: BREEAM Outstanding; NABERS Level 6; WELL Building Standard Platinum Enabled; Wired Score Platinum; Home Quality Mark; Cycling Score Platinum.
James Craig, founding partner of Oval Real Estate, said: “The submission of our planning application is a key milestone within our exciting vision to revitalise the Albert Bridge House site and create a thriving sustainable destination for Manchester city centre.
“Seeing the proposals come together over the last few months, we are particularly excited about the opportunity to revitalise the site’s riverfront setting and attract people to enjoy the views from the new public square, River Walk and terraces.
“As a business, we have a renewed focus on environmental sustainability. Our Albert Bridge House development seeks to provide a best-in-class and future-proofed scheme to meet our own demanding ESG standards, as well as supporting Greater Manchester’s target to be net zero by 2038.”
Christophe Egret, founding director of Studio Egret West, said: “The cascading green terraces of the office building and the slender residential tower on the Bridge Street approach will create a distinctive and memorable cityscape, while at ground level new amenities and quality landscape will provide an inviting new destination for Manchester.”
Subject to planning, construction could start towards the end of 2023.
