PLANNING | Salboy and Domis’s £53m tower among schemes set to progress

Obsidian is expected to be signed off to deliver 250 flats of William Street, while ECF is eyeing up land off Peru Street to provide 100 affordable apartments. The city council is also set to permit UA92’s plans to revitalise Baskerville House to create a business hub.

Salford City Council is recommended to approve all three applications at its planning and transportation regulatory meeting next Thursday.

The scheme would provide 250 apartments. Credit: via planning documents

Land bounded by Trinity Way and William Street

Application number: 23/81487/FUL

Salboy and Domis’s project would see the creation of 250 flats and almost 1,000 sq ft of commercial space on the site of a surface-level car park.

Euan Kellie Property Solutions submitted the application on behalf of Trinity 2, a Salboy and Domis SPV.

Known as Obsidian, the residential tower would reach 26 storeys at its highest point.

The Studio Power-designed scheme would feature 93 one-, 111 two-, and 15 three-bedroom apartments, as well as 31 studios.

Due to a lack of financial viability, none of these homes would be affordable.

Residents would have access to shared amenities including a cinema room, private dining/meeting space, and a co-working area.

There would be no on-site car parking provided, however there would be 125 cycle spaces.

The construction cost for the project is £53m.

Plans for Obsidian were submitted in April.

The project team includes landscape architect LDA Design, SK Transport Planning, Salford Archaeology, Design Fire Consultants, and Stephen Levrant Heritage Architecture.

E3P is the arboriculture, biodiversity, and ecological consultant. GIA is advising on daylight and sunlight. Renaissance is the flood risk and drainage expert

Obsidian’s air quality expert is IDOM Merebrook. The energy and sustainability consultant is Novco. Jameson Acoustics is the noise consultant and ArcAero is the wind expert. ARTAL is the project manager.

English Cities Fund’s plans form part of the £2.5bn Salford Crescent masterplan. Credit: via Muse

Peru Street

Application number: 23/81676/FUL

English Cities Fund hopes to start on site early next year to deliver 100 affordable apartments as part of its £2.5bn Salford Crescent masterplan.

ECF is a joint venture between Muse, Legal & General, and Homes England.

The JV wants to deliver a part five-, part six-storey apartment block on the vacant car park site off Peru Street, which once served the University of Salford’s Centenary Building.

Designed by architect Buttress, the scheme would feature 55 one- and 45 two-bedroom flats, including four accessible.

Residents would be provided with five accessible car parking bays, all of which would be fitted with electric vehicle charging points. There would also be 100 cycle spaces.

Plans were submitted for the project in May.

CBRE is the scheme’s planning consultant. Also on the project team is landscape architect Re-form and transport consultant Hydrock.

If approved by the city council, plans for Peru Street would be the second affordable housing development brought forward by ECF as part of the Salford Crescent masterplan.

In February 2022, work started on the JV’s Greenhaus scheme to deliver 96 flats off Chapel Street, also designed by Buttress. Greenhaus is due to complete in March 2024.

The wider Salford Crescent masterplan is a collaboration between Salford City Council and Salford University, which covers 240 acres in the city. The masterplan includes proposals to build 2.4m sq ft of research and industry space, a 165,000 sq ft hotel, 145,000 sq ft of retail, and more than 2,650 homes.

The entire building was previously occupied by AO. Credit: via This is Future

Baskerville House

Application number: 23/81819/COU

Higher education institution UA92 would take over the 37,000 sq ft office building on Browncross Street subject to the approval of the property’s conversion into an educational facility.

Founded by Lancaster University and the Class of ’92 in 2019, UA92 would open a business school in Bruntwood Works’ Baskerville House to cater to up to 500 students a day.

Set across five floors, the building would feature a business school and act as a central hub for the institution’s collaboration and enterprise with various partners including Microsoft, TalkTalk, KPMG, and Manchester United.

Dating back to the 1960s, the Salford facility was previously occupied by white goods retailer AO. The company signed an 11-year lease on the whole building in August 2017 before slashing its office space by 80% in March.

Paul Butler Associates is the planning consultant for the project.