Salford Quays set for 48-storey tower as huge site comes forward
Fresh proposals have been revealed to transform a swathe of Salford Quays to deliver more than 1,400 residential units and 485 hotel bedrooms in buildings of up to 48 storeys.
Developers Royalton Group and Frogmore have unveiled plans to build 13 blocks at the 8.3-acre Pier 7, a site the partners acquired from TH Real Estate in May 2016.
While the site has outline permission for up to 800 units, secured in May 2016, the fresh proposals go much further, with a total of 1,432 homes to be delivered alongside 628 car parking spaces, 485 hotel bedrooms, and 29,000 sq ft of ground floor commercial space.
Two “flagship” towers are planned for the Pier’s western end, one of 37 storeys and the other at 48; these will contain 496 apartments for private sale between them. If built, the 48-storey tower will be one storey taller than Manchester’s Beetham Tower and the tallest in Salford Quays.
The partners are intending to bring forward a hybrid application for the site; full planning permission will be submitted for development primarily at the western end of the Pier.
This will include a block of 169 apartments for private sale, and another of 293 PRS apartments; a hotel of 235 bedrooms; a smaller building of 19 apartments; harbour baths and floating gardens; and a 414-space car park with a public rooftop play area.
Outline permission is sought for the two largest towers, along with three further residential blocks of 298, 114, and 35 apartments, and a 250-bedroom hotel.
A public consultation on the plans is now under way with two events planned for 28 August and 5 September at the Helly Hanson Watersports Centre at the Quays, running between 2pm and 7pm.
The professional team includes three architects: Studio Egret West; Studio Partington; and Carey Jones Chapman Tolcher.
Lichfields is advising on planning, while the professional team also includes GIA, Curtins, Arcadis, MTT and Heyne Tilett Steel.
Ken Parker, chief executive of Royalton Group, said: “We are delighted to be bringing forward plans for a flagship development at Cotton Quay. As specialists in large scale residential and mixed-use developments, we are ambitious about transforming this underused brownfield site into a dynamic new neighbourhood in the heart of Salford Quays.
“Our proposals, which include around 1,500 new homes, match the ambition of the overarching strategy for this area while reducing the pressure to build on the borough’s precious Green Belt.
“Our plans look to make the most of the unique waterfront location which includes a pedestrianised promenade, floating gardens and waterside commercial units to create a destination waterfront public space for the wider community to enjoy.
“Several aspects of our plans, from the floating gardens to the rooftop play area, are completely unique and will position Cotton Quay as the benchmark for new development across Greater Manchester.
“We are looking forward to receiving feedback form the local community on our proposals and will continue to engage with residents as the plans progress.”
Looks mental that, have the designers spoke to each other? All a bit incoherent.
By yolo
Pure fantasy, surely nobody believes this will get built?
By Tony
Will be taller than anything in Liverpool.
By Manchester
While this isn’t the most attractive of towers, I have nothing against it in principle. But Salford Quays desperately needs infrastructure. There needs to be better public transport (the current Metrolink is already pressed to the limits and I doubt the additional Trafford Park line will make much difference once all the new apartments are complete. We need a proper rail link between Salford Quays/Media City and the city centre. This could be part of a proper East/West CR3 project that goes underground in the urban areas – Liverpool >> Liverpool Airport >> MediaCity >> Split, with one line to Manchester Airport (linking with HS2) >> Sheffield and the other link to Manchester City (linking with HS2) >> Bradford >> Leeds >> York.
We also need better shopping here. All we have is a shrunken down Boots (lovely store, but it no longer has a full range of food) and a tiny Sainsbury. The Lowrey Outlet Mall is not really a shopping centre since most of its shops are just outlet stores. We need doctors, dentists, butchers, deli’s and all the things that a high density suburban residential area that also works as a tourist destination and major business centre requires.
By EOD
Will be taller than anything in Liverpool……….and in Manchester!
By Anonymous
@anon – errrrr Deansgate Square?
By Beetham Tower
Wait a minute. Isn’t there a 20 storey building completely hidden by that 47 storey monstrosity? Simply awful design! Compared to the symmetry of the NV buildings, the whole proposal looks a mess.
By insert name here
Ahh,that poor child cooped up in the air with nowhere to play, sums up high rises, great for anoraks and smart alec comments poor for families and sociability
By Please release me...
I think the Architect had those modular shipping containers in mind when designing that tower.
By Oscar
Leeds would be proud.
By Anonymous
This is completely crazy. The Salford Quays cannot support that kind of traffic to the area. Trafford Road is very busy already. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like with all these new developments. Salford Quays used to be a quiet area to live. No more. It’s like a city centre now. It’s high time to evacuate this area. Really bad city planning.
By M
More car parking nightmare for the local residents who cannot park outside their own home now let alone when this is built.
Do people who actually plan these actually live local.
I know we need more houses but why so many oh yes profit and are they actually affordable housing I think not more for the yuppies and those that can afford extortionate rent.
The new apartments at clippers Quay are still mainly empty four months after they were finished why because of the extortionate rents they are asking so begs the question why do we need more.
The apartments on Trafford Road by X1 started being built 2 years ago now at a stand still half built apparently the company has gone into liquidation what is going to happen to them is ow, an eyesore.
By Karen
Nice height, hideous design. Are we really happy to accept anything in Manchester/Salford as long as it’s tall? Size isn’t everything after all!
Can I ask why people are talking about Liverpool in the comments section? Some serious growing up needed.
By Obsessed
Where’s the shops, restaurants, bars & cafes??
By O'Keefe
The little boy’s view is pretty good. I like that fire escape too on the left. The rest looks different. I don’t find the tower that offensive. It looks familiar? Is it based on something?
By Elephant
What city/urban planning? I agree with you.
By Hey up, By M
That lad is looking for his friends to play football on the street or the recreation ground opposite (protected by a private security guard, of course). Welcome to our Brave New World.
By James Yates
Looks stupidly out of scale, looking at the rest of the area; together with the car parking and traffic flow issues, I’d be surprised if it gets off the ground! All dockland development has access problems.
By Billy
You shouldn’t have families in apartments, children need a garden, and a large house.
By Dan
Assuming underground parking shall be included. There will be at least 3 tram stations within spitting distance of this development. Do some just repeat the same ‘concerns’ without thinking?
By Anon
Many of the quays’ streets and spaces offer you lifeless fences, car parks and blank frontages at ground level. This area needs active ground floor uses which can generate street activity. If this gets off the ground, it’ll increase the viability of water bus services between MediaCityUK, this site, Trafford Wharf, Pomona, The Factory, The Lowry Hotel and Victoria.
By Ground Level
Personally, I think this COULD look fantastic providing they use the right materials.
Looks very Sim City at the moment.
I think better links are required between Salford Quays/Media City and Salford Precinct such as a met extension. The shopping centre is pretty big but needs some investment/regeneration/redevelopment.
By Ratchet
Yet more little flats, when houses with gardens are what is needed. There are thousands of flats already being built in the city centre, less than 2 miles away.
This scheme is inappropriate against a context of low-rise developments either side. Big towers look better when grouped with other big towers (Beetham Tower is a good example of this – it has looked ridiculous stood by itself all these years but is now looking better in a context of other buildings). This proposed building will be a carbuncle on the end of a pier unless it has others around it which are similar.
The solution is for the developers to make each owner on Merchants Quay an offer that they can’t refuse, and then create a much larger and more coherent development on both piers.
By Salford Quays
Do people just copy and paste comments on here each time there is a new development proposal?
By Anonymous
anonymous – It will be taller than anything in Manchester or Liverpool ? I beg to differ what about Renaker at Owen Street – 65 Storey already built !
By Outsider
Nice trabs kid
By Verum
Who are these for? There are more than enough people in Salford now thank you
By RM
If you look out the window to the right of the lido. Thats my house so it is a bit imposing. Not happy to have a swimming pool within 100 ft of my house. The buildings put my garden in the shade after 6pm. 1500 units, 485 hotel rooms and only 513 parking spaces. How’s that going to work? On positive note it will bring lots of opportunity to the area, more to do, hopefully a great vibe to the area. Not sure what the impact will be on current Merchant Quays properties. Look forward to meeting the developer at the consultation
By #60
Yet again another scheme by a Revit Desi….. sorry I meant to say “Architect”.
By Anonymous
I guess if I want to move to a development that looks like Total Recall I know where to go now. Hideous design in totally the wrong place. There’s no-where near the infrastructure for this in such a small area.
By anon
In Manchester we need more social housing the city is in crisis
By Anonymous
Manchester is already dominated by social housing, it’s embarrassing quite frankly
By Floyd
is swathe the Place word of the month!? seen it appear in the last two articles I’ve read on here.
By anon
I am a resident of Merchants Quay and am absolutely appalled at the monstrosities proposed in this latest development.
Ugly, miles too high, not coherent with ANYTHING in the area.
Principle objections are :
1.Gross overloading of housing density, completely alien design. Not compatible with anything existing.
2. Gross overloading of parking capacity, already completely swamped at any time of day or night
3. This is a traffic nightmare now, without a huge influx of additional cars
4. Gross overloading of infrastructure generally in an already completely inadequate system
5. Gross over provision of rental capacity, just a money milking scheme designed to benefit council revenue and developers profits at the local residents expense.
6. How many more years of construction noise, disruption and pollution are we to suffer now?
By Mr Dennis Dring
Absolutely sick at the thought of two tower blocks and 1500 more homes polluting the peaceful neighbourhood!!
I dread the thought of the extra traffic congestion, the noise, the claustrophobia as well as an already strained public transport system.
Why can’t Cotton Quays be developed in the same style as its surroundings? It’s all about the money with no regards or respect for the community. We have built our lives here, if we wanted the densely populated hustle and bustle of town, we would have chosen the city centre. We are appalled.
By Alexes
NIMYs everywhere
By Toto
Will someone please think of the children, where dothey play and normally too not in some sterile compound, no wonder society is becoming more fragmented?
By Salford 4 ever.
Looks great. Exactly how the quays should’ve been developed in the first place. Can’t stand moaning NIMBYs who think toy town 2 and 3 storey houses are appropriate for the inner city of a major city and the wide open vistas created by the docks. That was never going to be viable or even desirable once the Quays became established.
By NIMBY watch
Looks fantastic and wo;; be a game changing addition to the area. Will wdd the density and footfall that the new Salford City Centre (after Media City Phase 2) will need. A lot of Nimbys objecting with reasons such as ‘too tall’, ‘not unifrom enough’, ‘too much traffic’, ‘used to be quiet’. None of them are valid reasons to object and it would be a real shame if they held back this area from the development it needs. The Quays has great potential and this could help it realise that.
By The Squirrel's Nuts
It is going to future destroy the area. Not in keeping with the local design of the areas’ housing. The buildings are far to high. Where is the infrastructure? – open family friendly spaces/services/parking/security/ect. When media city was developed, peel holding, it was critised for no playground or services, and the removal of the controls on the kids in the water causing an nuance, same when the plans came for the Lowery developments and here we go again! It’s turning into a getto! Developers get what they want regardless of the locals!
By Anonymous