Bruntwood SciTech begins £13m King’s House refurb
Work on transforming the Manchester city centre block into modern office spaces is expected to complete next summer.
A scheme drawn up by EPR Architects within the St Mary’s Parsonage regeneration area, the refurb of the 38,000 sq ft building on King Street West is being delivered by main contractor Amspec.
When King’s House is completed, it will offer 12 workspaces for teams of 12 to 110 alongside the San Carlo and Koreana restaurants, which will remain open during the work.
Kitchens, phone booths, and break-out areas will be among the key features of the fully fitted and furnished spaces.
A self-contained workspace is also being created on the ground floor, while the fourth-floor communal lounge will provide a space to host private events and meetings.
As part of the £13m renovation, on the lower ground floor there will be amenities including secure cycle storage, showers, changing areas, and a contemplation room.
Spaces will range from 1,000 to 10,000 sq ft. The agents for King’s House are OBI and Knight Frank.
Work is starting on Bruntwood SciTech’s King’s House refurb. Credit: via Citypress
King’s House will have eco-friendly features including air source heat pumps and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system.
Improved wall insulation is also expected to help the building achieve an EPC rating of A on completion.
Having properties that energy efficient fits in with the goals of Bruntwood SciTech, a Bruntwood, Legal & General, and Greater Manchester Pension Fund joint venture.
Joshua Hancock, associate commercial director, Bruntwood SciTech, said: “Starting on site at King’s House marks yet another exciting milestone in our plans to enhance and improve our workspaces across Manchester city centre, where we already have major new developments underway both at our campus locations and other city centre innovation hubs, such as Pall Mall on King Street, No. 3 Circle Square, Citylabs 4.0, and most recently, Greenheys at Manchester Science Park.
“As a company dedicated to powering economies through innovation in our cities, we’re excited to offer these new high-quality workspaces and provide access to a Manchester and UK-wide connected ecosystem to support businesses meet their growth aspirations and help them with the connections they need.”
As well as EPR Architects and Amspec, the project team includes planning and heritage consultancy from Paul Butler Associates, fire engineering from Hilson Moran, and structural engineering from DW Consulting Engineers.
As mentioned by Hancock, Bruntwood has been busy in the King Street area of the city. The redevelopment of Pall Mall is a £30m scheme on which work began back in February for the building to be ready next summer.
It includes a state-of-the-art gym, independent cafe, lounge and library space, and roof terrace.
