GALLERY | Piccadilly’s overhaul for HS2 era revealed
Manchester City Council has unveiled further insight into its plans for Piccadilly station and its surrounds, in an updated Piccadilly Strategic Regeneration Framework document that allows for a hike in development volume along with passenger improvements.
Last week, Place North West revealed the desire of the city to develop a boulevard around Piccadilly station that will provide an enhanced sense of arrival, as well as improving access, transport options and wayfinding for what is expected to be at least a doubling of passenger numbers by 2043, to 57.3m people a year.
The council has now made public the full extent of the SRFs scope in a document authored by Bennetts Associates, with Mott MacDonald providing transport engineering advice and BuroHappold sustainability advice. The SRF offers indicative images of the redesigned station and sets a context for planning decisions in the immediate area around Piccadilly, bringing it up to speed with more recent frameworks including Mayfield, North Campus and Portugal Street.
The alignment of HS2, Northern Powerhosue Rail and future-proofing Metrolink’s expansion have all been factors in the need to update the SRF.
The SRF now sees the quantum of development increase by 10%, including close to 2.9m sq ft of office space, 261,000 sq ft of retail space, up to 5,000 apartments and 250 hotel rooms.
Much of the development is to be to the north of the station, in areas designated as East Village, Piccadilly North, Piccadilly Central, and Piccadilly Heights.
The intention is for tall buildings at the arrival point of HS2. East of the station, a new park will be created, with further buildings, continuing the anticipated developments at Mayfield.
Key to the Piccadilly plan is the “One Station” notion, meaning that HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail will be fully integrated into the existing station area, with the station’s undercroft areas utilised to link the different networks and provide retail services – HS2 will be at the northern edge of the station, with the ‘Northern Hub’ links on the other side.
The public spaces to be developed as part of the boulevard will provide access to each level of the new central concourse that will be created.
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