Architects’ practice top of its class
Sheppard Robson is the fourth largest architects’ practice in the UK, but it has the biggest headcount in Manchester in its sector thanks to its burgeoning pipeline of impressive projects.
The revenue produced by the national practice’s Manchester office has more than doubled from £2.2m in 2014 to £4.5m in the year ending 2016.
The London-based company has had a presence in Manchester for 15 years and there are 70 people working it the Northern office.
“Our Glasgow office has just 25 people, while our London practice has 300,” said Rupert Goddard, a partner alongside Tony O’Brien and Alex Solk in Manchester. “So we are the kind of teenager of the company.”
With projects under its belt including the Manchester Metropolitan University Brooks Building, the University of Manchester Albert Gilbert Learning Commons, Project Orange at MediaCityUK in Salford and the award-winning Salford Student Residential Peel Park, the higher education sector features strongly in its portfolio of work.
Meanwhile, the company has submitted designs to Manchester City Council for two major science buildings, Citylabs 2.0 and Citylabs 3.0 as part of a joint venture between the commercial property company Bruntwood, Manchester Science Partnerships and Central Manchester Foundation Trust.
A key area of activity for its architects is the Corridor Manachester, and Goddard – who has been based in the North for 10 years after relocating from London – is heavily involved in the changing demands of student living.
“The market is changing commercially,” Goddard told TheBusinessDesk. “Manchester is retaining more and more students. As they leave they become post graduates.
“We’re finding we’re having to bridge the gap between what you might imagine a student development to be and private rental sector accommodation.
“There is a requirement now for new forms of housing. Working people living in the city are attracting a number of developers with new models.
“Generally, graduates take a couple of years to find their feet as they work, while people in their late 20s have got established, and it’s filling in that gap that’s important.”
The experience of the team is now benefiting the company across the whole Northern Powerhouse region.
“We now do projects across the North,” explained Goddard. “Over the last few years we’ve developed from being almost primarily focused on Manchester and the city centre, to looking across the whole North as well as the West Midlands.
“We’re now starting to export we have done in Manchester outwards, which is quite and exciting development.
“Much of this is due to the changing nature of the higher education sector to a more facilities industry. Universities are chasing to catch up. Students are paying more and demanding more for their money.”
