Work due to begin on Manchester homeless scheme
Embassy Village will provide accommodation for 40 people within homes constructed on Peel Waters-owned land between the Bridgewater Canal and the River Irwell.
Capital&Centric is leading on the development of the Manchester project for homelessness charity Embassy. Plans for the scheme were drawn up pro-bono in 2021 by members of the city’s development community.
The city council granted planning permission for the initiative three years ago, and the team behind it has now announced a contractor to deliver the scheme is due to be appointed imminently ahead of a summer start on site.
Once complete in 2025, Embassy Village will comprise modular living accommodation below 22 railway arches in the Castlefield area of Manchester.
As well as the homes, the development will feature a village hall and outdoor green spaces, including mini allotments to grow vegetables and a multi-use sports area.
The project is backed by a £3.5m donation from the Moulding Foundation as well as £250,000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation and £100,000 from Benefact Trust.
Sid Williams, co-founder and director of Embassy, said: “Once open, Embassy Village will provide homes, support, and stability for people when they need it most.
“Our aim is for it to be a community where residents, with support, can rebuild their lives and break the cycle of homelessness that people so often get trapped in.”
He added: “We’ve got a brilliant and busy few months ahead as our vision for Embassy Village becomes a reality and people can expect a flurry of activity this summer.
“We’ll soon be able to confirm the contractor we’ll be partnering with for the build and we are aiming to get going on site this summer.”
A raft of organisations and businesses have supported the project to get to this point, with funding, services and material donations. They include:
- Abacus
- AEW Architects
- Alexander Dawn
- Arcadis
- Benefact Trust
- Blaze Marketing
- Cardinal Maritime
- CDD Consult
- CDM Services
- Connectus
- Crookes Walker Consulting,
- Crown Paint
- Cundall
- Curtins
- Daikin
- Deloitte
- Derek Gough Associates
- Element Sustainability
- Engineering Innovation
- Engineering Integration
- Euan Kellie Property Solutions
- Far Logistics
- Fisher Acoustics
- Flair Foundation
- Font Comms
- Garfield Weston Foundation
- Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity
- Greater Manchester Police Safer By Design team
- Hill Dickinson
- Hollywood Monster
- Ian Farmer Associates
- Indigo Lithoprint
- Jewson
- Jon Matthews Architects
- LOFT
- Mente
- OFR
- One Agency
- Our Studio
- Paul Butler Associates
- Planit IE
- Prestige Beds
- Shoosmiths
- Sigma Capital
- Skelton Property Consultancy
- Squire Patton Boggs
- Sunbelt Rentals
- Sweco
- Temperature Control
- The Environment Partnership
- The Message Trust
- Wardell Armstrong.
The speed of delivery for this most urgently needed housing for homeless people is embarrassingly slow. Whilst it’s an excellent initiative, the partners/ council should be ashamed of themselves.
By Another Manc
It’s either going to work really well or become a no go zone like skidrow
By Anonymous
The huge list of organisations who have had to support the project even to get it to this stage, for what some would view as a modest intervention to address a huge issue, speaks volumes,
By Salfordian
I love Manchester
By Anonymous
Well done to all those involved in this much needed project.
By TJL
I wouldn’t want this near my house
By Anonymous
It’s taken a long time to get to this stage, and it’s only going to help 40 people !
It doesn’t take long to throw up skyscrapers for the rich – it’s quite revealing to see the number of Manchester institutions who are NOT on the list of supporters. Manchester really could do much better.
By Francis
I hope that this is a success and doesn’t become a modern version, of The Rookeries.
By Elephant
The key to the success of this scheme will be the management and maintenance of the buildings and surrounding area and more importantly the support the residents get to get their lives back on track in particular getting them into employment. With the right kind of revenue support this could be a great success without it I fear the worst.
By Anonymous