Located within the Brunswick area of Ardwick, this new development is part of the ambitious 2.13-hectare Upper Brook Street Masterplan, which identified the site for a new high-density, mixed-use development, including Life Sciences and PBSA. This phase will provide 983 student beds across three buildings.
Building A1 reaches 29 storeys, while A2 and A3 stand at 12 and 14 storeys, respectively. Building A3 exists as a standalone building and takes a simple, rectilinear form. Buildings A1 and A2 feature a bow-shaped plan that responds to the site boundaries, connected by an active podium that serves as a pedestal for the buildings. This area includes front-of-house and amenity spaces, featuring a mezzanine level designed to create a multi-layered space featuring communal study spaces and meeting rooms.
Additional amenities include a ground level gym and dedicated social spaces located at the highest levels of buildings A1 and A2, which include games rooms, gaming areas, and a cinema room. These top floors offer unobstructed views across Manchester, as well as provide access to external terraces, placing a strong emphasis on student health and wellbeing within the scheme. At building A3, the amenities include residents’ lounges, study rooms, games rooms, and laundry, and a 385sqm GIA commercial unit at ground floor level.
The buildings are intended to be read as a cohesive group, and therefore share the same materiality, language, and expression, whilst having their own identities through the expression and patterning of windows. A unitised cladding system, featuring pleated panels, lends depth and texture to the façade while playing with light and shade on the interior. The panel design incorporates ornamental triquetra mouldings inspired by the adjacent Pugin and Barry’s Unitarian Chapel, creating a contextual link between the old and new architecture.
The idea of community has been central during the design process, and not only ensures the creation of a new student community but also integrates the scheme within the existing neighbourhood through the introduction of 1.9 acres of public space across the masterplan. Between buildings A2 and A3 is Hanworth Court, an area featuring landscaped courtyard that connects the two structures and enhances the ground-level commercial spaces in building A2.
The scheme is targeting BREEAM ‘Excellent’ alongside Fitwel 2* accreditation.