Blade (left) is one of two Renaker towers approved in July

Renaker wins on mixed day for Manchester developers

31 July 2020 11:24 Dan Whelan Comments (0)

After months without a full planning committee, the city council made up for lost time with a four-hour meeting on Thursday in which it granted consent for a pair of Renaker skyscrapers, approved one of Vita’s co-living towers on Water Street but not the other, and deferred Downing’s plans for a 45-storey block on First Street.

All of the schemes had been recommended for approval by Manchester City Council last week.

Renaker’s dual-tower success

The towers were designed by SimpsonHaugh

The developer won approval for a pair of 52-storey towers comprising 890 apartments, as part of the Great Jackson Street regeneration zone on the fringes of Manchester city centre.

The SimpsonHaugh architects-designed skyscrapers, named Blade and Cylinder, form the second phase of Renaker’s Crown Street development close to its other project Deansgate Square, and will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments across 950,000 sq ft of residential space.

The plans, submitted in April, also include a 210-place primary school, three-level basement car park and a public park. The site covers 2.7 acres and is next to Chester Road roundabout and Mancunian Way.

TPM is the landscape architect. DP Squared is the structural engineer, MEP Design is providing building services and Heritage Architecture is also on the project team.

Vectos, Hoare Lea, WSP and Erap are consulting on transport, fire, fluid dynamics and ecology respectively.

Deloitte Real Estate is the planning consultant for the project.

Mixed bag for Vita’s Water Street co-living scheme

The two Vita towers Credit: Our Studio

Also approved was the larger of the housebuilder’s two proposed co-living blocks on Water Street. The 36-storey tower will provide 806 bed spaces across 188 two-, three- and four-bedroom flats.

A second proposed tower, at 32-storeys, was not approved but will be revisited by the committee at a later date.

Vita, which would deliver the blocks under its Union co-living brand, bought the two sites from developer Allied London last year. Allied had prior consent for a similar two-tower development, planning for which was approved in 2017.

The architect for Vita’s project is Denton Corker Marshall and the planning consultant is Deloitte Real Estate.

Deferral for Downing cluster

The buildings would provide space for 2,224 residents

The developer’s plans for a 2,224-bedroom co-living scheme within the First Street regeneration zone had been heavily criticised by councillors in the neighbouring Hulme ward, and those concerns were reflected in the outcome of Thursday’s meetings as members voted to defer the scheme pending a site visit.

Downing bought the plot from investment manager Patrizia last March for around £18m and wants to build a 45-storey tower alongside three stepped blocks of residential.

Of the three blocks, one, located on the corner of Hulme Street and Wilmott Street, would step up in height from 10 to 18 storeys and then again to 22.
A second, at the corner of Chester Street and Wilmott Street would rise from 18 storeys, to 22 and finally up to 26.
The third block, fronting Mancunian Way, would decrease from 17 storeys to 13 and then 10, stepping down from the road towards the centre of the site.

The flats would be split between 11 accommodation types, ranging from compact studios to five-bedroom apartments.

The co-living proposals include 1,113 apartments, divided between one-, two-, three-, four-, and five-bedrooms, along with 1,091 studio apartments.

SimpsonHaugh is the architect and Deloitte Real Estate is the planning consultant.