Queen opens One Angel Square

BAM construction manager Tony Grindrod said there is not likely to be another commercial building to compete with One Angel Square in Manchester for years to come after watching the Queen officially open the Co-operative Group's headquarters on Thursday.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh toured Greater Manchester yesterday and visited the 14-storey 330,000 sq ft Co-op HQ as well as stopping at Factory Youth Zone in Harpurhey and Gorton Monastery.

Tony Grindrod, construction manager at BAM Construct UK, main contractor on the £142m building, designed by 3D Reid, was there to see the Royal visit. He said he felt spoiled to have worked on such a building and added "I can't see anything of that scale being built in Manchester for a long while."

Earlier this year the building was sold by the Co-op to German investor RREEF Real Estate and Chinese fund Ginkgo Tree Investment and leased back to Co-op for 25 years.

One Angel Square achieved a BREEAM 'outstanding' rating for its environmental performance, scoring more than 95.16%, the highest ever BREEAM assessment.
Grindrod, who won a construction manager of the year award from the Chartered Institute of Building for his work on One Angel Square, said universities and residential developers dusting off old plans for apartment blocks provided the best prospects for major Manchester city centre construction in the coming years, with the new-build office market yet to return strongly. The secret of the success of the One Angel Square construction had been the "thrust and enthusiasm" of the project team through, he said.