Renaker launches Trinity Islands consultation
The SimpsonHaugh-designed scheme consists of four towers ranging from 39 to 60 storeys, as well as a considerable amount of public realm.
Trinity Islands, if approved as illustrated in the consultation, will create 2,000 new apartments. The apartments would have a mixture of one, two and three bedrooms.
Ground floors on the towers would host residential amenities. Initial layout illustrations show only two commercial units for the scheme.
The development is divided into two sites. The first, labelled C by Renaker, is 2.2 acres and would hold two diamond-form towers, each with a crystalline façade. C slopes downward to the north, where it is bound by the River Irwell. It sits on the west of Trinity Way.
The second site, known as D, is also 2.2 acres. Located on the east of Trinity Way, it slopes towards the River Irwell on its northern and western sides. The two towers on D would have curved façades.
Both towers would have discrete car parks. Renaker said it would be following a sustainable transport strategy for the project, providing around 30% car parking that would include 10% EV charging points. There would also be potential to increase that EV charging point amount in the future. Plans also call for 100% delivery of the cycle parking provision.
A closer look at part of the public realm space included in the Trinity Islands proposal. Credit: SimpsonHaugh
TPM Landscape is the landscape designer for the scheme. Deloitte LLP is the planning consultant.
Trinity Islands has been years in the making, with planning approval secured by original developers Allied London in 2017 for five residential towers ranging from 25 to 65 storeys.
Renaker purchased the 4.4-acre site in 2018. It said on the consultation site that the company wanted to improve those original plans by providing better access to the riverside walkway and boosting sunlight conditions at the ground level.
Renaker aims to submit a planning application for Trinity Islands this autumn. Consultation on the scheme ends on 26 August.
How many more formulaic towers can the Renaker/SH monopoly roll out? honestly, it’s pretty depressing to see a city’s visual identity suppressed by buildings which look like they were designed by an algorithm.
the ground-level environment looks utterly tragic, would benefit from some low rise elements to follow the street line, similar to Greengate
By Deja Vu
Love what Renaker have done for the city but honestly this is boring now. Surely no one wanted another Deansgate square. I hope they only paid SH half price for this copy and paste job. I was hoping this site would be something special. Disappointing.
By Bob
Not bad. Prefer the original designs though
By Steve
More ugly towers! Our city is developing well but some the recent highrise buildings are dreadful.
By Frank Gill
Great to see this progressing – the designs of the smaller towers could be improved but like their taller siblings and all the public space now being proposed. Get it built!
By Stuart
I’m with Deja Vu. I was hoping for something which would enforce urbanity onto the disparate road network around here and properly try to link it seamlessly into the city centre. This will just be a windswept wasteland with some lovely (but wasted because there is no reason for anyone to go there) landscaping. Renaker should look at their Colliers Yard development, and the podium block there more specifically, for inspiration here.
By Anonymous
Copy, paste? Is this really happening? Where is the innovation, where is a unique, contextual response this site deserves?
By A
SimpsonHaugh are past it. Utterly dull designs that do not give any Mancunian identity. Can’t wait to see them phased out (though I sadly concede that may be awhile).
By Robert
Maybe this is controversial, but I don’t think the modern glass skyscraper typology lends itself to good urbanism or particularly great architecture. Loads of ways to screw up (Nine Elms), so although Deansgate Square is bland, its bland in a somewhat non-bad way. Maybe people should reflect on some of the reasons we are doing this type of building – green belt constraint, and existing suburbs that don’t thicken up, hence when we have brownfield we drive high vertical density. We will end up like North America, cities with low density suburbs frozen in aspic, and then canyons of towers in the core and around transit nodes, with a ‘missing middle’ of mid-rise, mid density.
By Rich X
Good to see this progressing at last…it seems an awful long time since the original proposals. Despite the never too good cgi’s these will look good.
By Anonymous
Salford and Manchester is now a towering skyline full of skyscrapers.
By Darren Born Bred.
Glad to see another cluster other than Jackson’s row or Greengate and like Blade and cylinder a different profile.Done properly these will need to link into the surrounding developments .
By Robert
Like the curved profile in that second render. 60 stories? ..not bad but 70 would be better.
By Transformer
It’s just all ‘meh’ at this point.
By 1981
I much prefer the original designs. I remember that the original towers had a ‘light box kind of feature at the top.As for the floor counts ,70/75 floors would mix it up better and retain/redesign roof feature.There should also be buildings of 4/5/6 levels along with really good landscaping. Smaller buildings having decent sized balconies a must.
By Robert Fuller
This will be done to an equally high standard as the rest, plus job security for their teams. If they don’t build these someone else would have built something to a lower standard and Manchester is better than that!
By Neil
I think residential led property is a good use for the site, however have to agree with the comments that these towers bring nothing special. They’re plain, boring and as cities Salford and Manchester deserve better architecture.
The skyscrapers are here, that’s a fact but at least put some passion and thought into the designs. Where is the self respect from the architectural firms involved?
The Beethan was something special when it was built, you look at other cities around the world and they push the envelope when it comes to design and build of sky scrappers. But here mediocrity seems to be acceptable. Ironic when you consider Manchester is a city which has been considered to be at the forefront of innovation for over a hundred plus years.
By Anon
Are these towers going to end up half occupied like the 4 towers at Deansgate Square? Disgusting when you have half empty tower blocks and so much need for social house and people living on the streets.
By Anonymous
SimpsonHaugh designs are laughable at this point, they aren’t even trying. This looks generic and dull, it’s like they merged deansgate square and blade, it’s just lazy and unacceptable. Manchester is loosing its character because of these terrible SimpsonHaugh projects.
By Michael
Grateful that Simpson Haugh and Renaker are so active in Manchester, the thing is, I would like to see some variation.
Please can we have at least one different shaped roof and some cladding different from the chequered type?
By MrP
It would seem that there is only one architect working in Manchester. When is the city Manchester finally going to realize that SimpsonHaugh is vandalizing Manchester with his bling-bling paste/copy designs. His business must be thriving. He’ll soon be able able to offer himself another multimillion pound loft and Manchester will look like a 5th rate American city. It’s despairing.
By john
Funny to hear people complaining about SH being so overactive in Manchester. Think yourselves lucky. Some cities (ahem) truly dread seeing the name of their local preeminent “architect” attached to a development.
Remembering how Simpson was driven from Liverpool over the what would have been amazing Brunswick Tower debacle. How I expect some of those involved are kicking themselves now.
Anyway, I think there is a key observation people are missing: If SH wasn’t doing this, then who would be? And are architectural ambitions of the future helped or hindered by the subsequent additions of scale?
In the UK the activity of firms like this amount of city planning and building, and is the closest we get to it (the official side busies itself with paperwork rather than building). Some cities luck out, and I’d argue Manchester has lucked out.
By Jeff
I spend hours looking at pictures of buildings in Manchester on the internet and commenting on them. These towers are going to ruin my life.
By SSC cladding expert
Fantastic for the city!
People don’t appreciate the money this brings into the city which comes with improving the public space etc.
Renaker and without a doubt the best dev Manchester has seen in years – they deliver without fail!
The deansgate towers are/were a massive success and are not “half empty” like someone had stated previously.
Keep the Manchester economy going!
By Lee Spencer
@SSC Cladding Expert I moved to Australia and still I spend my days looking at pictures of Manchester new builds
By SSC
just ridiculous how this continues to be a thing.. glass towers with no thought at all… come on Simpsons – our city deserves better!
By manc
Excellent news, but that new 55 story Hong Kong funded tower being built on Greengate looks a better design. Maybe if they would bite the bullet and design something north of 220m with a pediment I’d be more impressed but that just shows how far expectations in Manchester have changed in less than a decade.
By Anonymous
Lol can’t wait for Regent Road to be snarled up
By Disgruntled Goat
Fantastic!
Renaker are number 1
deliver without fail
By dan little
Why isn’t a circle?/ Why isn’t it blue and red polka dot? Why isn’t it an upside-down phyramid or in the shape of statue of Chris Akabusi doing a hand stand? Why not x y z blah blah blah.
Lots of glass = lots of light
rectangular = most floor space from the site.
Have a word with yourselves.
By AQP