ECF unveils apartment plan for Salford’s Centenary Building site
The developer has submitted proposals for 263 homes on the site of the recently demolished Sterling Prize-winning university building.
Old Adelphi is the latest development to come forward as part of Adelphi Village, an 800-home residential scheme within the wider £2.5bn Crescent Salford masterplan. ECF, a partnership between Homes England, Muse, and Legal & General, is working alongside the University of Salford and Salford City Council on both the wider masterplan and Old Adelphi.
Old Adelphi would comprise three buildings. It is earmarked for construction next to Willohaus, a 100% affordable scheme off Peru Street that is under construction and due to complete next year. South of the site is the Farmer Norton car park, where a two-phase residential scheme comprising 227 apartments and townhouses has been drawn up.
The three-block proposals for Old Adelphi centre on a three-acre site bounded by Cannon Street, Adelphi Street, and Peru Street. Credit: Virtual Planit
Designed by Buttress Architects, Old Adelphi features a series of apartments and duplexes across five- and six-storey blocks. There would be 167 one-bed flats, 92 two-bed ones, and four residences with three bedrooms. Of the three blocks, two would be for build-to-rent, with the third reserved for affordable housing.
Amenities would include a gym, residents lounge, and a games/movie room.
ECF’s proposals also feature 13 accessible car parking spaces with EV charging capability, as well as 100% cycle parking provision.
Work on Old Adelphi is targeted to begin next spring, subject to planning permission.
Lawrence Myatt, senior project manager at ECF, said: “Through Crescent Salford, we’re creating communities that are built to last, and this next stage of Adelphi Village will deliver a diverse mix of homes to meet the needs of people in Salford.
“The high-quality homes in Adelphi Village have been designed with sustainability, wellbeing, inclusivity and community in mind, and we look forward to progressing with this next element of the Crescent Salford masterplan as momentum continues.”
CBRE is the planning consultant for the project, which includes landscapes designed by Re-form. The project team includes Hydrock, Clancy, Tyler Grange, Hannan, Stephen Levrant Heritage Architecture, Virtual Planit, AEC, Max Fordham, Hollis, Graphite Security, Civic Heritage, RMS, and Social Value Portal.
The planning application for Old Adelphia can be found by searching reference PA/2025/1422 on Salford City Council’s planning portal.
Old Adelphi would be constructed on the site of the now-demolished Stirling Prize-winning Centenary Building, pictured. Credit: via Hodder + Partners
The Centenary Building, which had occupied the Old Adelphi site, won the inaugural Stirling Prize in 1996.
The University of Salford-owned building was designed by Hodder + Partners and constructed to house the institution’s spatial, graphic, and industrial design department but had been vacant for almost a decade.
The building was one of only two North West winners of the Stirling Prize in the 28-year history of the award. The other is the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, which won the award in 2014.
Another scheme that won’t ever come out the ground
By Sally
I thought these were for students on first glance. I’m not sure excluding something as basic as a balcony does much for wellbeing, sustainability or ‘building to last’. These will become a block for transient short term rentals .
By Balcony watch
Fantastic renewal for the area
By John G
I’m all for improving the area and having a mix of tenures… however. The Centenary Building is no more. Please update your article. It’s already been demolished. Quite quickly, one might add. Only Salford City Council could approve the demolition and loss of a Stirling Prize winning building, but allow the developer of Adelphi Wharf across the road get away with murder. The site is a disgrace and SCC appear powerless to do anything about this unfinished development, that they approved. Pull your finger out
Oh and Sally, it will come out of the ground… you clearly haven’t watched this area over the years.
By Local Resident
Thanks for making us aware of that. We have updated the story accordingly.
By Julia Hatmaker
Sally – they are already building right next door!!!! This new design – is a bland, depressing beige building. Not a balcony or terrace in sight. How thoroughly miserable. Ripping down an avant garde 1990s structure to replace with a turd. Another missed opportunity. Oh dear.
By Not Sally
I could care less about the balcony obsession but more about good design. This isn’t it. Shockingly bland, built down to a price and a low one at that.
By Anonymous
Its no Time Keepers Square is it! Come on Buttress try harder!
By Gavin E
@October 28, 2025 at 12:19 pm
By Gavin E
That’s what I was thinking!
By Rye
Notwithstanding the demolition of a Sterling Prize-winning building, a decision that already raises eyebrows, this replacement is profoundly uninspiring. Some will claim it gestures toward the brick-built heritage of the area, but that gesture feels half-hearted at best.
Manchester has a rich architectural legacy, from the bold industrial grandeur of its Victorian warehouses to the civic ambition of post-war modernism. To follow that lineage with something so bland, so risk-averse, is a disservice to the city’s architectural narrative.
This isn’t respectful homage, it’s aesthetic retreat
By Steve5839
What was the design inspiration for the new building? The Bibby Stockholm?
By Anonymous
Greater Manchester should be doing better than this now
By Anonymous
Hey @Anonymous 12:03pm. You say you care about “good design” but dismiss the “balcony obsession”. You’ll have to explain that one to me since I suspect the people who actually live in the building might regard design decisions that exclude balconies as being of more importance than pleasing online cladding fanatics.
By Balcony watch
I wonder what the recently announced Salford Design Panel will make of this ?
By Observer
Does anyone know if the Adelphi Building (the 1910s building on the corner) has been demolished yet, as per the 2024 consent? To me this is the bigger shocker than the Centenary Building, given that it’s more of a landmark building and could be cleanly integrated into a medium-density resi development more easily- the current designs are quite lazy in this way
By Tom D
@ October 30, 2025 at 6:16 am
By Observer
Who knows? It is bland as hell – and would still be if balconies were slapped on it.
Salford would be better following, Trafford, Stockport and CWAC and draw up a district wide design code.
By Rye
@Rye Balconies are not there for decoration although they can indeed add depth and interest to an elevation. The main reason for introducing balconies is not to please cladding fanatics when they look at pictures of a building on their computer screens but to improve amenity for people who actually live in the building.
By Balcony watch
@ October 30, 2025 at 11:05 am
By Balcony watch
I agree that balconies are one way to add private amenity (along with private gardens in townhouses and sky gardens). But aesthetics are also important, giving a sense of place and providing uplift. Beauty does matter.
By Rye
These look to be along the same lines as the highly sustainable Buttress scheme nearby, i wonder if they are Passivhaus also? Would explain the smaller windows than typical
By Design Watch