Hodder reveals latest Great Jackson Street proposals

The architect has outlined plans for two towers of 36 and 31 storeys within Manchester’s Great Jackson Street tower cluster, featuring 580 homes.

The site is on Plot G of the wider masterplan, next to Downing’s River Street student scheme, and bordered by Great Jackson Street. A separate plot separates the site from Renaker’s Deansgate Square project, which is currently under construction.

The architect’s proposals are for two towers each with a podium, providing a mix of 580 studio, one, two, and three-bed apartments, along with townhouses at ground floor level.

Hodder + Partners has opted for a scheme of two towers rather than the three set out in the masterplan prepared by fellow architect SimpsonHaugh; in the masterplan, Plot G was earmarked for three towers of 27, 23, and 19 storeys featuring the same number of apartments.

This approach has been taken to open up the site and provide lines-of-sight from Hulme Park through to the wider Great Jackson Street site, including Deansgate Square.

The podiums feature roof gardens and a “crescent” frontage to follow the path of Great Jackson Street itself, while the podium to the River Street end of the site features a section rising to nine storeys to reflect Downing’s nearby scheme.

The street level will be predominantly housing, with one unit of 2,800 sq ft proposed for commercial or community use, with Manchester City Council understood to favour using the space for a pharmacy or a similar community function.

Public realm features heavily in the design, with more than 21,500 sq ft set aside, one between the two towers and one acting as a landing point for the footbridge across from Hulme Park. Layer is acting as landscape architect.

The towers’ design is reminiscent of the architect’s proposals for Hotspur Press, with red brick piers used throughout both the towers and the podiums to create a “monolithic” design.

Car parking will be towards the Mancunian Way end of the development, with 113 spaces provided.

The project is being brought forward by developer Great Jackson St Estates Limited, which lists Nissim Hassan as its sole director at Companies House. The architect described the developer as “a local landowner”.

The split of the apartments is yet to be determined but one tower could potentially be for private rent with the other for private sale.

A planning application, supported by Deloitte, is expected to be submitted in May this year.

The wider Great Jackson Street masterplan contains proposals for more than 5,500 additional units across towers of up 50 storeys.

Plot F, which borders the Hodder + Partners site, is the second largest in the masterplan, and has been set aside for three towers of 46, 35, and 33 storeys. As well as Deansgate Square, other projects under way within the area including Renaker’s Crown Street, stretching to 52 storeys, while DeTrafford has consent for 399 homes in a scheme designed by SimpsonHaugh.