Groundworks phase kicks off at Manchester Digital Campus
Contractors are on site as the early stages of building a 900,000 sq ft civil service campus move into gear, with overall completion in 2032 the aim.
The preparation phase for the project, a two-building development off Great Ancoats Street, is now live, preparing the way for the main construction phase.
Works include breaking up and crushing concrete slabbing, removing redundant drainage and utilities, reducing the levels of the site, and conducting further ground investigations and surveys in readiness for the main build, which is scheduled to start in 2028.
Teams will also lay temporary tracks across the 5.5-acre site for construction machinery.
Built on brownfield land on part of the former Central Retail Park, Manchester Digital Campus is expected to bring together around 8,800 people from multiple government departments with a focus on digital delivery. It is described as a key part of the Places for Growth programme.
Planning permission was secured last year, with Treasury sign-off following this March.
The Cabinet Office programme will principally be delivered by the Government Property Agency.
Philippa Harvey, senior responsible owner for the MDC programme, said: “This is a milestone event as delivery continues to progress on this programme, creating exceptional tangible benefits for the government, the taxpayer, the economy and the skills of the region and the wider UK.
“To get to this point has seen extraordinary efforts from a huge number of people across government, in Manchester, and the wider region; there is of course a lot more to do.
“MDC is not just a new building – it is a transformation of how government works, bringing together digitally focused departments at scale in a purpose-built environment, fully embedded in the community we serve.
”Once open – targeted for 2032 – MDC will provide approximately 900,000 sq ft of purpose-built workspace across two buildings. The new campus will help to harness the North West’s digital expertise and foster collaboration across departments and the wider digital sector in the region.”
The government intends for the MDC project to help it reach its ambition of having one in 10 civil servants in technology and digital roles by 2030, up from the current 5%.
Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “This is a significant moment for Manchester. Transforming this derelict site will support almost 9,000 government jobs being concentrated in Manchester and around 5,000 construction jobs.
“This investment by the Government in the future of Manchester, and Greater Manchester, will cement our growing global reputation as a hub for digital and cyber industries.”
Still pains me that this is the best we could do with such a unique site opportunity.
By Tom
It’s very bland indeed – catastrophic missed opportunity for what is a superb concept overall…
By Agree with Tom
So good that this site will bring 9000 permanent and 5000 construction jobs to the city
By Clouded Leopard
The traffic will be really bad
By Anonymous
Sounds good. 6 years until completion seems very slow. It is a little bland but on on par with 1 and 2 St Peter’s square. Lots of jobs and a significant improvement on the retail park.
By Anonymous
Why is this taking so long to get completed ? Similar sized to Google campus on London which took similar time to complete and that was paused due to COVID.
By Anonymous
The image shown here suggests the blandest of outcomes on what could/should be one of the most characterful locations in the city. Jobs and development welcome, but not at any cost. Manchester should have moved on from that now.
By Goundplain
We could have had a beautiful park here, instead we have buildings which look like Wythenshawe Civic after the war. Literally a waste of space.
By Elephant
The biggest missed opportunity this town ever had
By Mike
This is a really good thing for Manchester to have – many of the jobs here will be very good ones – and while it won’t be a thing of great beauty (and the walls are there for security reasons, as is the bespoke design) it’s really not any worse than a lot of the stuff that has gone up elsewhere.
The “it should have been a lovely park” argument is a dead one – in no universe would MCC be paying £30+ million for a prime development site, millions more to make the park, and then the large ongoing costs to maintain it. It would be Manchester’s version of Boris’s abandoned Garden Bridge in London.
By Rotringer
Reminds me of Sellafield
By Kevan
What’s the saying… “Good enough for Government work”.
By WatcherZero
This is truly amazing news for the city and the region. A proper game changer if ever there was such a thing. This will look so much better that the the moaners suggest and as someone rightly said, references to 1 and 2 St p sq. Would be lovely to hear much more positively on here but many only seem to be happy when they are moaning
By Philthegreek
The city centre doesn’t need a park, it is for working, dining and shopping. Parks are plentiful in residential areas where families live.
By Anonymous
I like it. One has big windows, one has small windows.
By Anonymous
No the walls are not necessary. They could have easily been designed out and still provided the requisite security with a halfway interested client / design team and a LPA that wasn’t so compliant. As for the architecture – this is what you get when you engage a non-architect of or that element of the design. Again, this smacks of cheapness and expediency over quality.
By Anonymous
Rotringer is spot on. The city chose a long time ago to focus the parks on the Irk and Medlock river basins, and this site is just too commercially valuable. That said there are quite a few UK cities doing public realm a lot better than Manchester. There’s a huge opportunity to put trees and SUDS back in the city, and make a better job of arterials than we saw with Great Ancoats.
By Rich X
Why didn’t they just build these offices at Mayfield and give the people what they want?
By Anonymous
On what planet does a 30m employment site get swapped for a park instead of 9000 high paying jobs. This is the Envy of pretty much any other city . Half of pnw is completely deluded
By Don cheglioni
There are much better renders in the planning app which you could use. This doesn’t even show the park in place.
By J
The design of these office blocks are indeed dull and disappointing but what’s done is done, we just now need to welcome the investment and hope the project is a success.
By Anonymous
Wonder why they didn’t go for a tower so its all in one building, thus freeing up the site for other offices, residential use and public space, that way everyone would benefit.
By GetItBuilt!
There are better available images from the plaza
By Anonymous
I would much rather this get built than a park? Who would fund the park? Who would fund the extra policing?
By Anonymous
The free-standing wall facing the canal is hilarious. Not only are the buildings ugly and the white not inkeeping with the red brick mill streetscape across the canal, but they put a wall around the building. Security reasons apparently. Surely a good proposal would have designed a smart protective cordon without a concrete wall. Shame. Would this happen in London? Growth in Manchester is great but we don’t always push quality. In this case, as others it isn’t just due to money.
By Walled In
Great to see the jobs but it’s such a bland development. Why not a cluster of 8 or so skyscrapers and more open space and public realm? Could have been a real once in a life time development to the Manchester skyline.
By MC