Contractor appointed for 4 Angel Square

29 July 2020 10:01 Sarah Townsend Comments (0)

Construction services firm Bowmer + Kirkland plans to start work in the coming weeks on the latest building for the 20-acre Noma regeneration scheme in Manchester, a 200,000 sq ft office block, after signing a build contract this week.

The latest building, known as 4 Angel Square, will be a carbon-neutral office block with space to house around 2,000 workers once complete. It will sit on the corner of Corporation Street and Miller Street at the Noma site north of Manchester city centre.

The whole Noma scheme is being developed by Federated Hermes, an entity of asset manager Hermes Investment Management, with MEPC as development manager.

The developer is delivering 4 Angel Square speculatively, meaning it has yet to agree an occupier “in a vote of confidence in the Manchester office market”, Federated Hermes said. Completion is expected in early 2023.

The block, designed by SimpsonHaugh architects and featuring a colonnade and coloured façade, will be 11 storeys tall with a 2,00 sq ft roof terrace on the 10^th floor, 7,000 sq ft of retail space split over two units and a separate ground-floor office suite aimed at start-ups or other small businesses.

There will also be a hotel-style entrance lobby leading out to a public square next to 4 Angel Square and connecting to existing public realm surrounding One Angel Square, the first office building to be developed at Noma that completed in 2012.

The public square will also connect 4 Angel Square to the under construction 2 & 3 Angel Square, which will collectively deliver 400,000 sq ft of Grade A office space, once complete. However, 4 Angel Square will be the only one of the four blocks to be operationally net zero-carbon and have an EPC A rating, according to the developer.

Paul Pavia, head of development at MEPC, said: “With widespread public and business support for a true ‘green recovery’ after the pandemic is over, we expect occupier and investor demand for quality, sustainable workspace to grow further, which is why we have committed to making 4 Angel Square operationally net zero-carbon and raising the standard for sustainable office development.”

He added: “4 Angel Square will help drive Manchester’s recovery and support the city’s long-term growth by creating high quality employment space designed appeal to major occupiers and support thousands of jobs.”

More than 1m sq ft of commercial space is in the development pipeline at Noma, and Manchester City Council last month approved an updated strategic framework for the latest phases of the project to include 620,000 sq ft of new-build office space, including 4 Angel Square.

The revised framework also earmarks sites for retail and leisure space, as well as additional public realm.

Consultancies JLL and Colliers are the office agents for Noma.

Peter Gallagher, director at Colliers, said: “Driven by surging occupier demand, there was a shortage of available Grade A office space in Manchester and this won’t have disappeared after the pandemic.

“4 Angel Square will provide much-needed quality workspace and the fact it is being developed speculatively is a huge vote of confidence in Manchester.”