English Heritage unease over Corn Exchange revamp

COUNCILLORS in Manchester are this week expected to approve plans to convert the Corn Exchange into a centre for fine dining.

Landlord Aviva Investors wants permission to change the building’s use from retail to dining and to refurbish and reconfigure the space inside.

It also wants to add two single storey glass extensions to two units on the Cathedral Gardens side, a plan which has attracted the ire of English Heritage.

Under Aviva’s plans 74,000 sq ft covering the lower and upper ground floors, the first floor retail space and the existing “mall space” would be converted to restaurant and cafe use, creating up to 12 food and drink units.

A 33,500 sq ft shop would be created on the lower ground floor for specialist food retail. The existing office space on the upper floors will be retained.

Aviva believes the building, formerly known as The Triangle, does not have a sustainable future as a retail destination, due to its size, and the proximity of Harvey Nichols and Selfridges and the Manchester Arndale.

According to a report prepared ahead of Thursday’s planning meeting, English Heritage is “seriously concerned” by the glass extensions which will protrude by five metres.

It is, “strongly opposed to the design of the extension which is considered to be out of character with the building” and wants planning permission to be granted with a condition that other options will be put forward.

The plan is supported by the neighbouring Printworks, now owned by Land Securities, but it has told the council to impose controls to restrict lettings to new entrants to avoid relocations from elsewhere in the city. The nearby Cathederal and Chethams School of Music expressed concern about noise from music and deliveries.

In their report planning officers said: “This proposal would help to attract greater numbers of companies and visitors to the city centre, and thereby support investment in infrastructure, public spaces and job creation. It is considered that the public benefits as set out above would outweigh the less than substantial harm that that would be caused to the building by the changes and extensions that are proposed.”

Built in 1897, the Corn Exchange was badly damaged by the 1996 IRA bomb and re-opened as The Triangle in 2000. It was rebranded as Corn Exchange, Manchester last year.