Pollard Yard eyes second expansion
Property management firm Meanwhile Creative has submitted an application to expand its modular office park in Ancoats by adding a further 10,000 sq ft of workspace housed in repurposed shipping containers.
The proposals would see the scheme provide small office space for independent businesses in a total of 167 shipping containers, up from 116 currently.
The park is located on land between Pollard Street East and Cambrian Street on the edge of Manchester city centre, on the opposite side of Ashton Canal from the grade two-listed Brunswick Mill.
The first phase of the scheme launched in June 2019, and Bristol-based Meanwhile Creative announced the following September plans to triple in size in the years ahead.
Phase one provided 8,000 sq ft of office space across 50 shipping containers, after the firm agreed a five-year lease on the site from Manchester City Council.
Phase two saw the number of containers increase to 116 when Meanwhile Creative, which has similar schemes in Bristol and Cardiff, added an additional 10,000 sq ft of container space.
If the latest application is successful, Pollard Yard, which is home to a variety of creative occupiers including cybersecurity firm YGHT and fashion designer Laura Fitzgerald Fashion, will be able to add a further 51 containers.
The containers provided through the first two phases are all 20ft in length. While the third phase will provide 36 such units, it also proposes 15 double-sized containers.
Barton Willmore is the planner for the project.
