Allied London tables plans for Campfield incubator 

The developer is working in partnership with Manchester City Council to redevelop a pair of grade two-listed market halls on Liverpool Road into workspace for tech and digital start-ups.

Allied London has submitted plans to overhaul Upper and Lower Campfield with the help £17.5m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund.

The proposals feature the conversion of Upper Campfield into a 26,000 sq ft digital hub for media and creative businesses, featuring film studios and editing suites, as well as offices.

Meanwhile, Lower Campfield, which previously housed the Air and Space Museum, would be transformed into a 60,000 sq ft incubator for tech companies. The scheme would provide low-cost workspace for start-ups.

Zerum is the planner and Project 3 is the architect. To learn more about the plans, search for reference number 138377/FO/2023 on Manchester City Council’s planning portal.

Earlier this year, the city council entered a legal agreement with developer Allied London for the transformation of the grade two-listed Campfield Market buildings.

Their repair and conversion were part of a successful £19.8m Levelling Up Fund bid by the council in 2021. Of the nearly £20m awarded, £17.5m will go towards the market buildings.

Campfield House, a 32,000 sq ft office block between the two listed buildings, also features within the wider proposals although plans to revamp this element will be paid for by Allied London directly.

In total, the Campfield project will see around 117,000 sq ft of workspace delivered.

The scheme will act as an extension of Allied London’s Enterprise City development, which has seen the delivery of the 340,000 sq ft Manchester Goods Yard and the 100,000 sq ft Media Building, which are both aimed at the digital and tech sectors.