GMPF plans £200m expansion of Salford’s Soapworks
Three residential blocks comprising 450 homes, a multi-storey car park, and the transformation of a vacant building into 130,000 sq ft of workspace form the next phase of work at the Colgate Lane site.
Development managers Bankfoot APAM and Catella APAM are working with land owner Greater Manchester Pension Fund to deliver the £200m Soapworks project, which will see the 8.5-acre site transformed from a gated commercial development to an open mixed-use community.
The residential buildings would be constructed on land currently used for surface car parking fronting Manchester Ship Canal.
Meanwhile, the proposed office space would be created in an existing vacant building on the site known as Block D.
The additional workspace would take the total amount of office accommodation at Soapworks to 360,000 sq ft.
The existing 230,000 sq ft of offices are fully occupied following a 25,000 sq ft letting to the Department for Homes, Communities and Levelling Up.
The multi-storey car park would be constructed on a second area of surface car parking to the east of the site.
The proposals seek to open up the site with new pedestrian and cycle routes to enhance connectivity and feature four acres of public realm including green spaces, a central hub, waterfront food and beverage, and courtyard for residents and workers.
Chapman Taylor is the architect working on the scheme and the planner is AshtonHale. Lexington is leading on strategic communications.
A public consultation on the proposals to expand Soapworks has launched and will run for the next three weeks. You can access the consultation at soapworksregeneration.co.uk.
The project team is aiming to submit a planning application this autumn.
Fiona Chatham, senior development manager at Bankfoot APAM, said: “The creation of new homes, additional office space and extensive public open space will help transform the site into a welcoming mixed-use destination.
“The scheme design has a key focus on connectivity and aims to deliver a new community in which people can work, rest and play, with sustainability at the heart of the proposals.”
Around four acres of public realm are planned. Credit: via Lexington
In which people can ‘work rest and play’ ? Is this sponsored by Mars? Overall a good design, well done all, and can we have the Aztec bar back?
By On Topic
I hope they open it out into the river
By Dan
A pedestrian bridge over to Pomona would be nice
By Anonymous
Looks really good, but I think 2 things are needed to really make this work. 1) a footbridge over to Pomona and 2) easy access to Exchange Quay. This way you’ll tap into several thousand office workers and several hundred residents. This connectivity will help bolster cash flow for the bars/restaurants during both the week and the weekend (the area is dead at the weekend at the moment.
By MC
Anything opening up the river for the public has to be good. I mean… it’s not rocket science. Any city’s biggest asset is their waterfrontage and what do we do with ours? We piss on it. The walk from here to the city is one of the worst urban waterfronts in the developed world. This is one small step to make it better. Imagine if this was beautiful all the way to Cornbrook then crossed the river so people could continue the walk through the highline park and yeah… wouldn’t that be great to have a footbridge to Pomona as well…
By EOD
Councillors, planning committees and local MPs out to be ashamed of the way Salford and Manchester have treated their waterfronts in recent years. There’s been virtually zero effort to keep it open to the public (see Salford at Chapel Wharf), keep walkways wide and usable (thinking of Ordsall Lane where developments have been built right up to the water); provide active frontage along the water (thinking of Salford Quays where ground level parking fronts the water); and keep waterways well lit and safe. Not rocket science as others have said, but a seemingly insurmountable task for our useless local politicians
By Anonymous
Manchester and Salford are hopeless at public realm. Trafford, encroaching so close to the city centre, doesn’t help either. It is ridiculous the way the boundaries are devised in GM and it is generally Manchester which loses out. Pomona Island is a shambles. Imagine anywhere else in the Western World turning that asset into Steptoe’s yard. Imagine that in Berlin, it would have a beach and a nature reserve on it and fantastic facilities for people to enjoy.
By Elephant
Agree with the waterfront comments. Could be brilliant but wasted instead.
By Anonymous