GALLERY | Local Blackfriars completed
Domis has completed construction of the £79m Local Blackfriars, a residential project on Salford’s Trinity Way, on behalf of Salboy.
The scheme is made up of two buildings, sitting at 16 storeys and 12 storeys, alongside the restored former Black Friars Pub, which is now used as a marketing suite. At a later date the pub is expected to be returned to a leisure use.
The blocks sit either side of a central courtyard, which will be accessible to the public during the day but closed at night.
In total, the project delivered 399 one- and two-bedroom apartments, including 12 penthouses, and six townhouses at Garden Lane.
Initially intended to be for the private rented sector, Salboy switched the scheme to instead be targeted at the sales market halfway through development. The flats have been sold to a mix of local and overseas buyers, managed by sales arm Salboy International, to retain control of the process abroad.
The flats are now 50% occupied, with 25 apartments left to sell. Urbanbubble is managing the project.
Facilities on site include a private fully equipped cinema, gym and studio, launderette, pet wash facility, cycling storage and underground parking.
According to Salboy, the time from start on site to completion was 104 weeks, putting the project 22 weeks ahead of schedule.
Salboy is led by Betfred billionaire Fred Done and managing director Simon Ismail. Domis, partly owned by Salboy, was the contractor, while the scheme was designed by Jon Matthews Architects.
Click any image below to launch gallery. All photography is by Mark Waugh
- Salboy's Trinity Blackfriars scheme delivered 399 apartments
Are these a re-clad of 1960’s tower blocks or actually new?
By LionelRichTea
New believe it or not!
By Steve
My goodness these look awful
By Vincent
They are not too bad in the flesh. Where they sit on Trinity way will soon be surrounded by skyscrapers and other new schemes.
By Elephant
Just need a decent pub around there now……….
By Cyril
Congratulations to all involved. It’s a fantastic scheme that looks far better in the flesh
By Carl
These look great in the flesh. The quality of the materials, clean lines. Everyone on here would complain if they were all grey.
By XY
Horrific.
By No
Surely this was a ‘5plus’ designed scheme……..it certainly says that on the planning application. Was this a Place North West mistake or a false press release. Hmmmmmm?
Good to see the old pub saved, but the scheme makes very little effort to engage with it and the street scene suffers accordingly. Missed opportunity. Build quality looks good though.
By Dave McCall
To add to the mix of comments – I think it is an attractive scheme that looks much better when viewed in person (a rarity, I know!)
By Anon
@Dave_Mccall
Not an error or a false PR. Jon Matthews was a director of 5Plus when this was designed. He has subsequently set up as Jon Matthews Architects and taken his IP with him.
By Bill
The green facade provoked plenty of debate at design stage but as many have commented and its true, the scheme is brilliant in the flesh and the quality is fantastic. 1st of 6 by Salboy and we’re proud to be their holistic operator. More importantly, its been a hit with residents with strong lease up levels.
By Michael Howard MD urbanbubble
Sorry but it really does not look better in the flesh. This is the sort of mediocrity we have been subjected to by SCC and MCC. Bland, soulless and ready for demolition already. The saving grace is the restoration of the pub.
By Acelius
Excellent scheme and the green panels look fantastic. Restored pub retains the local heritage. Well done.
By Anonymous
Not sure about the logic of planting what appear to be London Plane trees within 10ft of the building on Trinity Way. There doesn’t look like there is space for them to grow and residents will quickly have the light blocked from their windows.
By Allotmentlad
I drive past it every day and they certainly do not look better in the flesh. It is so painful to look at it, especially them cheap looking green tiles, what an absolute disaster. Even though I’m not a huge fan of red brick I do think it would be more respectful to Black Friars Pub if red brick was used. Instead it really overhwhelms this beautiful pub and it creates such a terrible backdrop. I honestly don’t know what is going on in Manchester, so many awful/mediocre schemes, it doesn’t even take that much to create something aesthetically pleasing. I think Manchester Council is to blame, they allow this horror to happen.
By Michael
@Michael, I’m highly doubtfulthat Manchester council is to blame for a building that is in Salford, and therefore falls under the remit of Salford City Council.
By Red Rose