MMU picks Morgan Sindall for Arts & Media building
Manchester Metropolitan University has chosen Morgan Sindall to build its nine-storey Arts & Media facility on the former site of the Mabel Tylecote Building on Oxford Road.
The 96,000 sq ft development includes teaching space for the University’s arts & humanities faculty, including creative writing, the Manchester School of Theatre, and languages & linguistics.
Alongside teaching space, the project also includes a 250-seat studio theatre as part of the School of Theatre, a café, and a new library, all of which will be at ground floor level.
The development will connect to the Grosvenor Building, while the grade two-listed façade of the former Chorlton-upon-Medlock Town Hall will be incorporated into the new building.
Demolition contractor Connell has completed the clearance of the Mabel Tylecote Building, allowing Morgan Sindall to start construction works in the coming months. The building is scheduled to complete in 2019.
The professional team includes Allies & Morrison as architect; Turner & Townsend as project manager; Arup as structural engineer and mechanical engineer; Turley as planner; and Charcoalblue as theatre and acoustic consultant.
Plans were approved for the project in July. It forms part of MMU’s wider diversification of its Oxford Road estate, with the University looking to spend around £250m on new buildings and redevelopment up to 2026.
Why? They don’t deliver on quality.
By Monty Con