Salford to approve 381 homes across four projects next week 

Two schemes being developed by the council, plus others from English Cities Fund, and Guinness Developments are tipped to progress. 

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Tree of Knowledge/Irwell Valley 

The council’s proposed redevelopment of the site features 21 houses and 24 apartments. Credit: via planning documents

Developer: Salford City Council 

Architect/Planner: PRP 

Salford City Council wants to create 45 homes where Irwell Valley High School once stood, the site of a listed mural by Alan Boyson that was preserved when the school was demolished in 2009.  

The narrow 1.8-acre plot sits off Blandford Road next to the Albion Academy in the Charlestown area of Salford.  

Designed by architects PRP, the council’s proposed redevelopment of the site features 21 houses and 24 apartments.  

The houses would comprise a mix of two-, three- and four-bedroom properties while the apartments, which range in size from 398 sq ft to 796 sq ft, would have either one or two bedrooms.    

All of the homes would be available on affordable tenures in a bid to address the area’s 809-home social housing shortfall. 

The development, to be known as Irwell Valley and built by Seddon Construction, would be accessed via Coniston Street and Gerald Road.  

Vacant and gated off since 2009, the site was originally home to Cromwell Secondary School for Girls, built in 1962.  

The site has also been known as Irwell Valley High School and Salford University College at various stages in its history. From 2001 until their demolition eight years later, the buildings were used by Salford University’s art department.  

The majority of the buildings on the site were demolished in 2009 but Boyson’s mural was retained following a public campaign to save it. All that is left on the site now is the small portion of the former school on which the mural is located.  

Stockport-born Boyson, who died in 2018, created the sculpture in 1962.  

According to Historic England, which listed the artwork in 2009 thus saving it from demolition, said the mural has “a high level of aesthetic and artistic quality…[and] is a good example of the integration between art and architecture, and the 1950s/60s policy of enhancing communities through the incorporation of art work in the public realm”.  

The mural depicts a symbolic tree of knowledge with songbirds, flowers, and an owl of wisdom. 

Under the council’s proposals for the site, the mural will be retained and will flank one of the houses, overlooking an area of public space in the centre of the site.  

Boyson’s other works include the concrete frieze at Merseyway Shopping Centre in Stockport and the Three Ships mosaic in Hull. 

Former Harrop Fold High School 

The scheme features three separate three-storey apartment blocks. Credit: via planning documents

Developer: Salford City Council 

Architect: Pozzoni 

Planner: Avison Young 

The council is plotting 177 homes on the 11-acre site of the former Harrop Fold High school off Longshaw Drive in Little Hulton. 

The site has been vacant since 2008 when the school relocated to a new site. The old school was demolished the following year. 

Under the plans, Salford City Council proposes the construction of 45 apartments acrsoo three separate three-storey blocks, and 132 houses. 

The apartments would be a mix of one- and two-bedroom properties. The houses would have two-, three- and four-bedrooms, with one five-bedroom dwelling. 

The project team features Identity Consult as project manager, TEP on landscape design, and Curtins advising on transport and as structural engineer. 

SRL is assessing noise and GL Hearn is assessing air quality. PHI Architects is energy and sustainability consultant, EPS is on ecology and JCA is the arboricultural consultant.

311 – 313 Chapel Street 

The homes will be available for affordable rent. Credit: via planning documents

Developer: English Cities Fund – a consortium made up of Muse Developments, Legal & General and Homes England 

Architect: Buttress Architects 

Planner: DPP 

ECF is to construct 96 one- and two-bedroom affordable apartments as part of the Salford Central masterplan, subject to planning approval. 

The scheme, nine storeys at its highest point, is to be constructed on a plot next to the recently completed Atelier, another of English Cities Fund’s projects.   

The plot was recently freed up by the closure of convenience store Shalimar.  

Shalimar had resisted closure and demolition for several years while neighbouring developments including the 173-unit Atelier, and the 97-home Vimto Gardens sprung up on Chapel Street.  

However, the store closed in May and will now be demolished to make way for ECF’s latest development.  

The latest Chapel Street scheme to come forward is to comprise a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments available for affordable rent.  

Cherry Tree Court 

CGI renderings of Guinness Development’s plans for Cherry Tree Court. Credit: via planning documents

Developer: Guiness Developments 

Architect/Planner: Arcus Consulting  

Guinness Developments wants to build a mixed-storey apartment complex on Kiwi Street in Pendleton once an existing 17-storey residential tower block is demolished. 

Arcus submitted plans for the Cherry Tree Court site after it was determined that the current building would not be suitable for creating adequate high-quality, energy-efficient housing. 

Salford City Council approved the demolition of that current tower block in December 2020. 

The plans for the new building, eight storeys at its highest point, comprise 47 one-bedroom and 14 two-bedroom apartments. 

 All 63 homes would be available on affordable tenures. 

Residents of the complex would have access to a communal garden to the rear. 

Guinness Developments has secured funding for the project from Homes England. 

The development team on the project includes Survey Operations as topographical survey consultants and Bagshaw as ecology biodiversity consultants.  

Azymuth Acoustics is providing noise assessment expertise and TPS Consultants is handling the transport statement and travel plan. Reid Jones Partnership is advising on sustainable drainage, while CC Geotechnical is the phase one site investigation consultant.