All clear for Cole Waterhouse’s £200m Old Trafford resi
Councillors voted to approve the project at a planning committee meeting on Thursday, paving the way for the construction of 382 apartments and 412 student homes off Trafford Wharf Road.
Cole Waterhouse’s £200m GDV project will be built on the former Hilti headquarters site, which the developer acquired in April of last year.
Designed by Chapman Taylor Architects, the flats would be located in two towers stepping up in height. The taller of the two would go from 22 storeys to 24, while the smaller’s range would be 16 to 18 storeys.
The student beds would reside in a third block of between six and eight storeys. In addition to the 412 student bedrooms, this building would boast 24,900 sq ft of office and academic space for the University Campus of Football Business.
As part of the planning permission conditions, Cole Waterhouse will contribute £2.4m towards off-site affordable housing. Chapman Taylor is to be kept on board as a member of the project team, serving as a design certifier throughout the construction process.
The student building will include space for lectures and offices – in addition to student bedrooms. Credit: via planning documents
Councillors were largely supportive of the scheme, although they did raise concerns over the number of parking spaces, with only 15 accessible parking bays proposed. Planning officers clarified that this was due to the project’s location within the Trafford Wharfside masterplan, a 400-acre area that is set to include high density zones according to initial designs by Allies & Morrison.
Instead of car travel, residents of the Cole Waterhouse project will be encouraged to cycle. The scheme includes 425 spaces for cycles to be stored.
The development is set to be largely car-free. Credit: via planning documents
Carrying on with the green theme, Cole Waterhouse’s plans include 62,000 sq ft of public realm. This includes a private courtyard for the rental towers, rooftop spaces and a podium with trees. Re-Form Landscape is the scheme’s landscape architect.
Cole Waterhouse chief executive Damian Flood described the project as “transformational”.
“It represents a major investment in Old Trafford, delivering much-needed housing, student accommodation, educational facilities, and commercial space while also prioritising residents experience and the public realm,” he continued.
“Importantly, it will create lasting opportunities for local people – through jobs, training, and community spaces – and will help position Trafford Wharfside as a truly world-class destination.”
UCFB director of transformation, technology, facilities, and sport Lee Preston shared his enthusiasm for the project winning over Trafford Council.
“After celebrating ten years in Manchester, this exciting development will help transform UCFB’s Manchester Campus with a new, purpose built, state of the art facility just a stone’s throw from the current Old Trafford Football Stadium, and the site of the proposed world-class new stadium,” Preston said.
“This development is among the first to come forward within the Trafford Wharfside Masterplan and sets the standard for what will follow. UCFB are thrilled to be a part such a transformational project and look forward to making a significant impact within the local community and beyond.”
In addition to Re-Form and Chapman Taylor, the project team includes planner Paul Butler Associates, project manager TSA Riley, M&E engineer Watt, civil and structural engineer XO Square, and ecologist Tyler Grange.
Russell Bolton Consulting is leading on cost control, while Civic Engineers drew up the transport strategy. Safer Sphere is the building regulations advisor. Jommas conducted the topographical survey.
Redmore Environmental is the air quality consultant. Proximity is the daylight and sunlight expert. Cavendish is handling public relations, while Architectural Aerodynamics is charged with wind microclimate strategies. Rider Levett Bucknall is the environmental planner.
Rounding out the project team is Safer Sphere, Orion Fire Engineering, Proximity, CDM Services, and Jameson Acoustics.
You can learn more about the project by searching reference number 114818/FUL/24 on Trafford Council’s planning portal.
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Excellent scheme this, Manchester slowly filling up with these nice midrise’s and adding good density outside of the main city center
By Bob
PBSA is on its backside, with occupancy of newish city centre schemes in the 80%. Why would anyone firstly fund and secondly want to live no where near any 3rd level uni’s? Very strange location for it. Good luck tho!
By Anonymous
It always amazes me when people seem to think they know more than the people paying hundreds of millions of pounds to build and design these properties! Questioning and then belittling the reasons behind d building them. If you know better then why are you the one on a forum and they’re the ones doing the work?
By Cristoforo
I think you’ll find many developers are chasing planning consents for so long that market conditions change rapidly meaning what was a good plan, can rapidly outdate itself!
By Anonymous
When will the targeted completion date? 2030?
By Anonymous
Has the Trafford Design Code been binned already? That’s a lot of apartments with no balconies.
By Anonymous
The streets are already clogged up with cars from No. 1 Old Trafford, almost next door. With Victoria Warehouse and the Man Utd ground nearby, 15 spaces for 800 flats/beds is not enough.
By PSR Simon
Great that they kept Gnome Island in the visualisations. Students may want to add their traffic cones.
By Dr Gnome
Why do all these artist impressions fail to deliver what is finally built? They are all ‘pie in the sky’ and don’t deliver what was promised once completed?
By Ian Thomson
Several elements may have been missed out in the quest to build. For instance, there will be severe loss of daylight to existing homes in the nearby Nr 1 Old Trafford which is a smaller height thereby reducing residential quality of life for the residents.
The new towers will be positioned just metres away from existing homes in Nr 1 Old Trafford. Hundreds of new windows and balconies will directly face our apartments and across the building. This will create a permanent sense of being overlooked, a serious invasion of privacy. Residents in Nr 1 Old Trafford will lose their right to enjoy their homes in peace and privacy, replaced by a daily sense of exposure, overlooking and intrusion.
Furthermore, even in a well-connected city centre location, people still use cars, whether for mobility needs, work, or family. Without proper provision, cars will be forced to park in nearby streets, worsening congestion and creating safety risks for pedestrians and cyclists. Residents in the area already experience issues with parking, loading, and unsafe drop-offs in the area. This scheme would add hundreds more residents and deliveries with no plan to manage that impact
By Ian
Have either of the three councils carried out a retrospective check to see the number of tenants with cars v parking spaces provided? All they would have to do is drive round (on their bikes) to see every street, pavement and verge occupied. They need to get realistic and provide a sensible number until public transportation is fit for purpose
By OTBlue
“Cole Waterhouse’s plans include 62,000 sq ft of public realm. This includes a private courtyard for the rental towers, rooftop spaces …” Will Joe Public really be able to enjoy the private courtyard and roof terraces?
By Koi Division
“Without proper provision, cars will be forced to park in nearby streets, worsening congestion and creating safety risks for pedestrians and cyclists.”
How about you live somewhere that you can park your car instead, rather than making developers provide more parking which encourages more cars to be on the roads which are already congested. The cars aren’t ‘forced’, it isn’t an automated machine, it’s a person’s choice to live there and own a car.
By Think before typing