Allied nudges London Road Fire Station revival along
The developer expects to complete the restoration of the grade two-listed Manchester building by March 2024.
Work on the internal fit-out of the office and hotel is underway at the former London Road Fire Station, with Quadriga leading the project team.
Once complete, the scheme will feature a 61-bedroom hotel and 45,000 sq ft of offices.
Speaking to Place North West, Allied London founder and chief executive Mike Ingall said he wants the scheme to provide an “authentic second life for the building”.
The developer won planning approval for the project in 2020 but progress has been slower than imagined due to the complexities around restoring a historic building.
“It is not a project where you simply put a contractor in on a design and build,” Ingall said. “It has been a restoration project, which clearly brings its challenges.”
Plans for the operation of the building are in the early stages, but Ingall said he could picture Department, Allied’s serviced office brand, being a good fit.
He is also on the hunt for a hotel operator to manage the “shabby-luxe” venue.
“There is demand for a boutique hotel that is differential,” Ingall said. “We want to identify operators that are at the top of their game but they don’t have to be national names.”
The grade two-listed former fire station, which opened in 1906, was acquired by Allied London in 2015 from Britannia Hotels for an undisclosed sum.
Allied London first won planning approval in 2017 to convert the building into a mix of uses including apartments, a hotel, workspace, and other hospitality uses in a scheme designed by Levitt Bernstein.
Work to repair and restore parts of the building’s façade had already taken place when the developer changed tack, swapping out apartments for offices and appointing Purcell as architect.
The changes were made “in response to post-submission engagement with key project stakeholders”, the developer said at the time.
The scheme is now office-led and the number of hotel rooms has been reduced by 30.
The earlier project also planned a new-build basement with access through a distinctive glass pavilion in the courtyard, however that has now been removed in the latest proposals.
What does this actually mean?? “in response to post-submission engagement with key project stakeholders”
By Barney McGrew
Probably taking so long because they’ve changed their minds so many times on what they want to do with it.
By Anonymouse
I think it a shame that the glass pavilion idea has been scrapped.It gave the courtyard area a feature to focus on ,it would of looked very interesting set against the 1906 structure.This job seems to of taken decades!
By Robert Fuller
Hopefully this is at least close to the final hurdle now , it’s been going in for decades and would probably still be if that awful hotel group still owned it. Should be another fabulous addition to Manchester again in a couple of years.
By Anonymous
This is becoming a Manchester embarrassment. 5 years and still a building site?
By Elephant
Would be really interested to know when London Road Fire Station would be finished as I would love to visit. My father was in the fire brigade and I lived there until I was 18.
By Jacky Forshaw
The council need to do more to make this an attractive area, I feel for the developer, there’s nothing they can do about the state of the surrounding streets.
By Anonymous
Why is this taking so long?
By Elephant
Prompted to check on current situation today as national news showed lack of student accommodation in M/c. Very glad to read that it appears that the renovation/change of use is at last taking place. If it falls through maybe student accommodation could be considered?!! My grandfather was a fireman and the family lived at the Fire station until 1935. My mother was born there in 1919.
By Joan Watson