GALLERY | Circle Square takes shape
Bruntwood’s flagship Circle Square scheme in Manchester is on track for completion by mid-2021. Place North West took a tour of the megaproject to see how construction is progressing.
A joint venture between Bruntwood SciTech and Vita Group, Circle Square will be delivered over three phases. The masterplan includes over 1.2m sq ft of commercial office space, 1,700 new homes and 100,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space, including two subterranean units, which will all centre around 250,000 sq ft of public realm named Symphony Park.
The park is the size of a football pitch and is set to include 187 semi-mature trees and over 1,000 plants. It has adjacent stepped space for seating, and is planned to be utilised for a programme of events from those focused on health and wellbeing, to art exhibition and live music.
The development is also attached to Bruntwood’s food and retail space Hatch on Oxford Road. Hatch recently underwent an expansion for ‘Phase Two’ which opened in June, which means the site now covers 11,000 sq ft and houses 35 units.
The developer this week held a public consultation on a £56m office building at Circle Square, which is a joint venture between Bruntwood and Legal & General. Work is set to start on the 300,000 sq ft 15-storey building next year subject to planning consent. It will sit alongside 12-storey 235,000 sq ft No.1, and 17-storey 155,000 sq ft No.2 mixed-use commercial office buildings which are due for completion September next year.
Hewlett Packard Enterprises have committed to a pre-let of 20,000 sq ft of managed space in No.1 Circle Square.
All three office blocks have been designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, and the first two are being built by contractor John Sisk & Son. Sisk is also the main contractor for the £247m Affinity Living Development, which will deliver 16,000 sq ft of amenity space and 683 apartments across two buildings. Affinity Living is set to complete in April 2021.
Vita Group are developers on the accommodation at Circle Square. Two of the student buildings were completed in late 2017 which provided 716 apartments. An18-storey, 90,000 sq ft building on Plot 9, currently under construction will provide 384 beds which are primarily aimed at mature students. Bowmer & Kirkland is the contractor; Ridge is the project manager; Curtins is the structural and highways engineers; Deloitte is the planner;and Appleyard & Trew is the cost consultant.
Russells is the contractor for Circle Square’s 150-bedroom hotel and 1,100 space car park which is set to be completed in January 2020.
Planit-IE is landscape architect. The office agents are Knight Frank, JLL, and Savills. Once complete, the development is set to bring around 12,000 workers and 2,000 residents to the area.
- The CircleSquare development is one of many in Manchester's pipeline set to bring a mix of commercial, resi, and offices to the market
12,000 extra workers and 2,000 extra residents! Oxford Road station opposite the site needs to be completely remodelled and increased in size. It’s already extremely overcrowded at peak times.
By Anonymous