Canada House refurbishment begins
Workspace and OBI Property have started on the £3m transformation of the 70,000 sq ft grade-2 listed Canada House on Chepstow Street in Manchester.
Office suites ranging from 250 sq ft to 9,200 sq ft on the first to fourth floors will be fully refurbished. A café, meeting space and screening room will be added to the ground floor and a cycle park will be installed in the basement.
Planning permission and listed building consent were secured for the project last month.
Workspace is the main contractor. OBI Property is delivering the design, project management and leasing of the building on behalf of owners LJ Partnership.
Andrew Cowell, head of asset management at OBI Property, said: “Interest in the work space at Canada House is very high and is attracting forward-thinking companies who want an inspiring working environment. We will soon be able to announce a number of new tenants.”
Built in 1909 as a textile packing warehouse for HS Booth & Company, the Art Nouveau building was designed by W&G Higginbottom.
Puma occupies the fifth and sixth floors. Bannatyne Health Club and Historic England are among existing tenants.
The works will be completed in two phases, with a range of office suites to be ready by the end of the summer and the full project completed by the end of 2017.
Click to enlarge images below
Beautiful building
By David