Property round-up: Buro Four, Horwich Works, and Optionis expands
BURO Four has been appointed to project manage the University of Manchester’s new £200m engineering campus.
The development will be the largest project ever undertaken by the university and will feature new build, as well as refurbished accommodation, for four individual Schools within the Engineering and Physical Sciences Faculty.
The university is moving its engineering departments from the old Umist campus to the area around the new National Graphene Insitute in Booth Street East which is under construction.
The investment is part of a £1bn estates plan to consolidate its campus around Oxford Road over the next 10 years. Work on the engineering campus is due to start in 2015 and be finished by 2019. It is part of the first phase of the plan, costing around £700m, which will be delivered over the next six years.
Further projects will include new centres for the School of Law and Manchester Business School, a major refurbishment of the library, a bigger Students’ Union and a new Medical School Building. The telescope at Jodrell Bank is also to be refurbished as part of the plans. A planned £300m second phase will run from 2018 to 2022 and involves the development of a new biomedical campus and health centre as well as the refurbishment of the university’s computer science, environmental sciences, mathematics and chemistry facilities.
Buro Four’s regional director David Boles said: “This is an absolutely fantastic project for us and for the region. We have a long standing relationship with the University of Manchester and are delighted to be playing such an integral part in their exciting transformation. The complexities of a redevelopment programme such as this are not to be underestimated; it is essential that the Campus represents best value, whilst delivering to the University’s vision.”
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HORWICH Loco Works near Bolton could be turned into a new development called Rivington Chase with 1,700 homes.
Horwich Vision, a partnership between Alderley Edge-based Bluemantle and Orbit Developments, is behind the plans for the 189-acre site.
Simon Isherwood of Horwich Vision said: “The core strategy fully endorsed the regeneration of the former Horwich Loco works site which has been identified as a strategic site by the council. We are looking forward to sharing the draft plans with the community which will deliver much needed regeneration to this part of Horwich.”
Manchester-based HOW Planning is working with with masterplanners Cass Associates and CBO Transport on the scheme. A public consultation is being held today at Rivington House, just off Chorley New Road.
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WARRINGTON-based professional services group Optionis has taken on a second office in the town.
The business, which provides support services to small businesses, recruitment firms and freelancers, has expanded into a vacant 5,500 sq ft building on Centre Park, just 300 metres from its current office, Optionis House.
It said the decision to invest in additional office space follows an increase in head office staff from 132 to 168 in the past 12 months.
Managing director Derek Kelly said: “This expansion marks a significant step in the growth and evolution of Optionis. We have been a major employer in Warrington for several years, and it’s great to be able to commit to the town for the foreseeable future.
“Our headcount has been rising steadily, and we reached the point where we had simply outgrown our existing office. At 5,500 sq ft, the new building is nearly as big as Optionis House in terms of floor space, so there will be plenty of room to accommodate new recruits at both sites as we continue to grow.”
Optionis, which also has bases in Manchester, London, Poole and Dorchester, had sales of £381.2m in the year to April 2012.
