Cubic Works rounds off £6m revamp for Bruntwood SciTech
The 117-119 Portland Street building will form the cornerstone of the developer’s Thread Works, a collection of buildings around the gateway to Manchester’s Oxford Road corridor.
Fit-out contractor Cubic Works was picked by Bruntwood SciTech to deliver the £6m project, featuring 35,000 sq ft of sustainable, modern workspace and amenities targeting SMEs and companies from the creative, tech, and innovation sectors.
WW+P Architects and Egis UK have signed for the entire ground floor, and PropertyHub is expected to arrive on the site soon.
The 117 Portland Street building spans six floors, and Bruntwood SciTech has developed nine new flexible suites ranging from 1,200 sq ft to 6,200 sq ft and will act as the focal point for the wider four-building cluster.
Bruntwood SciTech’s office will provide an events and social hub, a 40-seat auditorium, communal breakout lounges across multiple floors, and an on-site gym with showers and changing facilities.
Thread Works’ three other sites are 113-115 Portland Street, 127 Portland Street, and 61 Oxford Street, the scheme as a whole located to take advantage of the pipeline of talent at the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University.
The office, first erected in 1886, is now fully electric, powered by renewables, and has an EPC A Rating.
Jack Harrison, commercial manager, Bruntwood SciTech, said: “The transformation of 117-119 Portland Street marks a key milestone in our mission to support businesses to connect, collaborate, and scale, both within the immediate neighbourhood and across Bruntwood SciTech’s city-wide ecosystem.”
Bruntwood SciTech is the joint venture between Bruntwood, Legal & General, and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund.
The developer last week submitted its plans for a 585,000 sq ft build at Sister, the redevelopment of the University’s former UMIST campus.
Adam Brown, associate and Manchester studio lead at WW+P Architects, added: “Joining the Thread Works cluster marks an exciting moment in our strategic growth as we expand our presence in the North.
“Five years after we started working here, moving into our first permanent residence offers us the opportunity to deepen our connections with the city and focus on our ongoing commitment to championing design quality and technical excellence across the region.”
