Design shortlist for The Factory selected
NINE firms of architects, including practices based in New York and Rotterdam as well as this country, have been shortlisted to design The Factory, Manchester.
The new £110m arts and cultural development, due to open in 2019, attracted expressions of interest from more than 86 organisations across seven design areas, Manchester City Council said.
The Factory will be based t the heart of the St John’s neighbourhood at the former Granada Studios site, creating a new creative village in the city centre.
The architects, selected from a long-list of 48 are: Rafael Viñoly Architects; Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Bennetts Associates; Office for Metropolitan Architecture (O.M.A.) Stedebouw B.V.; Zaha Hadid; Simpson Haugh and Partners; Grimshaw Architects; Mecanoo International b.v. and Haworth Tompkins.
Appointments are set to be made in mid-November with a view to a planning application being submitted mid-2016. Construction is planned to start early 2017.
Manchester City Council will directly procure the design teams and contractor, supported by development partner Allied London.
Allied will also ensure co-ordination between The Factory and the wider St John’s regeneration scheme, which is a joint venture between Allied London and the city council.
The full cost of the project is £110m, of which £84m relates to the construction costs. The Government pledged £78m in last year’s autumn statement towards The Factory project as part of its Northern Powerhouse initiative. Around £3.5m of this is being released in 2015-16 so the procurement of design services can begin, the city council said.
Cllr Rosa Battle, Manchester City Council’s executive member for culture and leisure, said: “Culture has a hugely significant part to play in the economic future of Manchester and the North. Our ambition is to create a building that, in its design, will match the national and international ambition of the works created within it.
“The level of international interest reflects the city’s emerging status as an internationally-renowned city of culture. This is a landmark development that will place Manchester in the highest tier of arts worldwide.”
Other shortlisted firms for the project are:
Theatre Consultants
Fisher Dachs Associates, Inc
Charcoalblue LLP
Ove Arup & Partners Ltd
Theatre Projects Consultants Limited
Theatreplan LLP
Structural and Civil Engineers
Expedition Engineering Ltd
Ove Arup & Partners Ltd
WSP UK Ltd
Buro Happold Limited
Mott MacDonald Limited
Building Services Engineers
Ove Arup & Partners Ltd
Buro Happold Limited
WSP UK Ltd (Trading as WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff )
Max Fordham LLP
Mott MacDonald Limited
Cost Consultant
Turner & Townsend Cost Management Ltd
Gardiner & Theobald LLP
Gleeds Cost Management Limited
EC Harris LLP
Rider Levett Bucknall (UK) Ltd
Fire Engineers
Ove Arup & Partners Ltd
WSP UK Ltd (Trading as WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff )
Buro Happold Limited
Hoare Lea and Partners
AECOM Limited
Acoustic Engineers
Ove Arup & Partners Ltd
Building Design Partnership Limited
Buro Happold Limited
Kahle Acoustics sprl
Threshold Acoustics LLC
