The Trinity Islands proposal will deliver 1,950 new, high-quality homes across four residential towers of heights varying from 39 to 60 storeys, transforming the former car park which is currently established on the sites. The proposed development uses pairs of different and unique building forms to provide identity to each site within a cohesive whole.
The scale of the buildings generates a variety of heights which form a dynamic townscape setting and vary in appearance depending on the viewing location. The pairing of the taller towers on each site across Trinity Way forms a dramatic gateway setting, between which will see significant public movement in and out of the city centre.
The majority of each site is given over to the creation of a new public realm, providing the opportunity to establish a stronger connection into St Johns whilst increasing public amenity and biodiversity along the river. The designs include a mixture of retail and leisure uses within the ground floors to create active frontages that will bring new activity and vibrancy into the area.
The Site C towers utilise a diamond-shaped plan; the different angles of the adjacent diamond corners express a 'prow' to each building, providing a sense of movement and expressing the orientation of the building form. The diamond form will be legible when viewed from any position around the city.
On Site D the towers have a curved appearance with concave and convex geometry on opposing faces, enabling the taller marker building to lock into the natural curvature of the River Irwell. The inflected facades provide a contrast and generate a slender overall tower form.
Each tower will feature interlocking and stepped internal amenity spaces and external terraces which are cut into the building form to provide unique, double-height leisure spaces for residents. High-quality and aspirational health and wellbeing facilities are planned for residents, along with homeworking and social spaces.
The subtle use of texture and anodized aluminium colours provides the buildings with character that defines them from any others within the context of the city.
The development seeks to provide a high-quality neighbourhood befitting its city centre location, recognising the opportunity for the site to deliver a critical mass of exemplar accommodation to support the economic growth of Manchester.