Holt Town regen team selected by Manchester City Council

Manchester City Council is also working with Homes England and GMCA to develop a new plan to help guide investment and will be presenting the project as one of its major schemes on show at the MIPIM conference next week (Tuesday 12 March).

The procurement competition was launched in October 2023, attracting international interest and a range of high-quality bids.

The winning submission reflected a creative and energetic approach to the regeneration opportunity, while also showing demonstrable experience of Manchester’s development and planning landscape – and an ambition that matched the Council’s vision.

Studio Egret West was founded in 2004 by Christophe Egret and David West. They specialise in placemaking projects bringing together teams of architects, designers and planners. “The success of the practice and the places we create is based on the layering and symbiosis of these three disciplines.”

The council has high hopes for Holt Town and describes it as a town in the city claiming it is “one of Manchester’s most exciting regeneration prospects for the coming years”, noting that it sits in a strategically important location between the city centre and the renowned investment in east Manchester at Sportcity, the Etihad Campus and the new Co-op Live Arena.

Cllr Bev Craig

Cllr Bev Craig, leader, Manchester City Council, said:  “The successful submission reflects Holt Town’s potential to create a new town in the city for a growing Manchester. It mirrored our own vision and ambition to ensure we celebrate the area’s heritage while creating new opportunities for digital investment, affordable homes and low carbon features that will future proof this new neighbourhood.”

David West, Founding Director of Studio Egret West said:  “Our team was instantly energised by the Council’s bold ambition to bring forward a pioneering framework for Holt Town. We will bring a fresh approach to the challenge of shaping a ‘town within the city’ and look forward to championing a genuinely collaborative and co-created neighbourhood framework.”

Holt Town already has its own Metrolink station and the project has the ambition for the area describing it as “a future community, brimming with the innovation and digital first ideology of a modern, forward-thinking neighbourhood.”

The draft plan will be prepared in the coming months before consultation later this year.