Green light for Arkwright House refurb
The 95,000 sq ft office building in Manchester’s Parsonage Gardens will undergo its second refurbishment in three years after the city council approved a £1m plan to reconfigure the reception area to attract more tenants.
A £16m refurbishment of the building, carried out in 2017, was carried out by Sheppard Robson architects.
The same architect has been appointed for the latest project, and fit-out firm Claremont, which carried out the previous job, has also been called back as lead contractor.
“The layout of the current reception is inefficient in that it does not give visitors or staff the opportunity to use the space for any other functions,” Claremont said in a statement. “The look and feel are currently uninspiring with no relation to the historic architectural features.”
Chris Cheap, director at Avison Young, joint letting agent for the building, said the reception project was “an important next step in the continued transformation of Arkwright House”, following the 2017 refurb.
Arkwright House, designed in 1927 by architect Harry Fairhurst and completed in 1937, is owned by a private pension fund and at the time of the last refurbishment was managed by London-based real estate investor and asset manager Catalyst Capital.
However, a management restructuring at the start of this year means that Catalyst is no longer involved with Arkwright House.
Current occupiers include engineering firm Ramboll, which has a 10-year lease on a 7,000 sq ft penthouse office suite in 2018, and online doctor Push Doctor, which occupies 15,000 sq ft on the first floor.
The letting agents for the building are Avison Young and Colliers International.