Salford Rise in for planning

English Cities Fund, the University of Salford and the city council have submitted proposals for the podium project, which will link development areas within the 240-acre masterplan.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer and Department for Levelling up Housing and Communities awarded the project £13.17m in the Autumn budget.

Designed by Make Architects, the near five-acre podium will be constructed over Frederick Road to unlock development potential within the £2.5bn Crescent masterplan.

Structural engineer Cundall and landscape architect Planit-IE are also on the Salford Rise team, as well as fire safety engineer Design Fire Consultants. Construction work on Salford Rise is expected to start on site this summer.

If consented, the scheme will deliver a 90m green boulevard in the sky together with adjacent public realm for events and activities.

Perhaps the most important among the projects to benefit from the scheme will be Crescent Innovation, a key component of the Salford Innovation Triangle named in the recent Levelling Up White Paper as one of the UK’s innovation accelerators, which will see £100m invested into three public-private academic partnerships to encourage research.

This area will focus on creating a research, development and innovation campus that will sit at the northern gateway of Salford Rise.

Work is already under way at the North of England Robotics Innovation Centre, the Science, Engineering & Environment building and Energy House 2.0.

The Crescent masterplan also maps out the delivery of more than 3,000 homes, 1m sq ft of space to innovate and collaborate, alongside 1m sq ft of offices, retail & leisure, a new multi-modal transport hub and green space.

Maggie Grogan, development director at ECF (itself a venture combining Muse, L&G and Homes England), said: “Both the partnership and the vision for Crescent is unique. It’s clear that excitement around what we’re looking to achieve here is building, as we work hard with and for the people of Salford to turn that vision into reality.

“Essentially people make places and Salford Rise will remove a significant barrier to movement across the wider masterplan, enabling the delivery of Crescent Innovation, bringing communities in the surrounding area together, while connecting them to the opportunities to thrive and prosper.”

In a Place North West interview in April 2021, as the partners moved in on final sign-off, incoming council chief executive Tom Stannard said the Crescent masterplan could be one of Greater Manchester’s “signature” developments.