Moulding Foundation to fund Manchester’s Embassy Village

A £3.5m donation will go towards redeveloping a site beneath railway arches between the Bridgewater Canal and River Irwell into 40 homes for homeless men in the city. 

The Moulding Foundation, which was established in 2020 by THG founder Matthew Moulding and his family, is to fund the construction of Embassy Village, which is due to start later this year and complete in 2023. 

Manchester-based charity Embassy worked alongside companies including Capital & Centric and Jon Matthews Architects to develop the vision for the scheme, as well as Peel L&P, which owns the site. 

In addition to modular housing, the development will feature an area for sports, a village hall and allotments. 

The aim of the initiative is to reintegrate homeless men into society by providing shelter and wrap-around support. 

Planning approval for the project was granted 12 months ago. 

 “We are hugely proud to be supporting Embassy Village with this incredible project, helping to reduce homelessness in Greater Manchester,” said Jodie Moulding, founder and trustee chair of the Moulding Foundation. 

“The village will be transformational; in addition to safe housing, it will give residents the life skills, community support and access to the resources needed to lead thriving and healthy lives.” 

“To receive this extremely generous donation from The Moulding Foundation is just incredible and puts us in a position to get the village built sooner than we had expected,” said Sid Williams, co-founder and director of Embassy. 

“The latest government figures show that Manchester has the second highest number of people sleeping rough in England. This project is critical in helping us transform the way homelessness is tackled in our city, providing a long-term and sustainable solution.” 

Construction is due to start later this year. Credit: via Font Comms

The full project team for Embassy Village, which provided its services to Embassy pro bono, comprises:  

Landowner – Peel L&P  

Development consultant – Capital & Centric  

Planner – Deloitte Real Estate  

Architect – Jon Matthews Architects  

Civil and structural engineer – Curtins  

Quantity surveyors – Arcadis  

Transport engineer – Curtins  

Mechanical and electrical engineer – Crookes Walker  

Fire engineer – OFR  

Acoustic engineer – Fisher Acoustics  

Landscape architect – Planit-IE  

CDMC / PD – CDMC Services  

Building control – Ball and Berry  

Sustainability – Element Sustainability  

Graphics – Our Studio  

Construction logistics support – Balfour Beatty