Contractors lined up for THG’s 1m sq ft Airport City campus

Bowmer + Kirkland and Goldbeck are close to being appointed to build the first phase of the e-commerce giant’s global headquarters, comprising a 288,000 sq ft office and 1,400-space multi-storey car park. 

The Airport City consortium has selected Bowmer + Kirkland and Goldbeck as its preferred contractors for the THG scheme, according to documents lodged with Manchester City Council and market sources. 

B+K is lined up to build the six-storey office element, while Goldbeck will build the car park.

The companies have not yet signed contracts but it is understood that discussions between the parties have been ongoing for several months.

Both B+K and Goldbeck have submitted construction management plans and local labour agreements to the city council. THG said the tender process for the appointment of a contractor was ongoing when contacted by Place North West.

Work is due to commence in the first half of this year, it is understood.

The start on site will come more than three years after Manchester City Council granted planning approval for the THG project and four since the scheme was first mooted.

A deal between THG and Airport City – a joint venture between Columbia Threadneedle, Manchester Airports Group, BCEGI and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund – was announced in 2018, outlining the intention to build the 1m sq ft project. 

Enabling works are ongoing, paving the way for both B+K and Goldbeck to start on site. 

Later phases of the campus include an additional 715,000 sq ft of office space. Once complete, the development could house up to 10,000 THG staff. 

The THG campus, designed by BDP, forms part of the wider £1bn Airport City masterplan, which once complete, could provide 5m sq ft of commercial space. 

Other elements of the masterplan include two hotels – a 262-bedroom Ibis Budget and a 280-bedroom Holiday Inn – and Icon Industrial’s 45-acre logistics development. 

Icon is home to occupiers including Amazon, DHL and Alpha LSG. THG also has a 168,000 sq ft warehouse with associated offices, and a further 104,000 sq ft of offices and content creation studio at Icon.