Watch This Space teams up with Snook for latest city project
Urban regeneration company Watch This Space has submitted a planning application for its latest Manchester development, a townhouse scheme on Richmond Street, within the Gay Village.
Watch This Space acquired the derelict site off market at the start of the year from investor Stephen Elias. Liverpool-based architect Snook, led by Neil Dawson, advised on the application, alongside Iceni projects.
The scheme would see seven, three-bed townhouses with garages and one, two-bed maisonette apartment built on the plot. The houses include en-suite bedrooms, roof terraces, cycle storage and electric car charging points.
Watch This Space’s founder, Michelle Rothwell, said: “This housing concept is set to challenge the way that people live and increase the options that are available for couples and families who want to live in Manchester. These new townhouses will provide a new city centre solution for people who are looking for a cool, quirky residence who would have otherwise been forced to move outside of the city.”
Planning approval is expected next month, with a start on site in October this year.
Looks proper banging, need some of this in Salford too!
By SalfordLad
Yes nice to look at but designed really badly. Who would seriously want to live in a bedroom on the ground floor at the rear of the property that overlooks the back of a kebab shop! Smell would be lovely as well, along with the noise of the people from Napoleons beer garden, along with the added bonus of people peeing in your doorway on a regular basis. Lovely
By David
“Challenge the way that people live…” Really? How?
By Parrott
“Challenge the way that people live…” Really? How? – manchester like many city centres is dominated by apartments – the idea is to offer an alternative way of living which is your own front door, off street garage parking, private roof gardens etc etc that mean you don’t have to up sticks and move to the suburbs at the first sign of a baby. Its really about offering another city centre mode of living that is something more sustainable and an alternative to multi occupancy apartment living – its a norm in large centres like london and new york but less common outside of these metropolis’s
By Anonymous
Yes lovely in theory. In reality it’s the Village. This is hardly an area where you would want to bring up a child. Full of drunk people, beggars, noise….i’ll eat my hat if any families move in to these properties if and when they are built.
By David
There are not many townhouses in Soho and for good reason – it’s an entertainment district and the ground floor gives nothing to the street.
Putting townhouses on this plot is a rubbish idea. Rubbish for the occupants and rubbish for the area, sorry.
By Snarkitect
There is also a beautiful little warehouse on this stretch that was sold at auction recently. Is that building being cleared for this? I certainly hope not.
By Snarkitect
It’s not another apartment scheme, it offers something different to the consumer – sounds like a positive idea
By mirror
These look like the town houses off Great Ancoats Street. There are very similar properties that have been built in Ancoats Urben Village, New Wakefield St, New Islington, Chapel Street, Ordsall and elsewhere.
The idea is sound but I’m not sure about the location. The design needs serious thought – why not stack them above some commercial units?
By Snarkitect
I hope that they maintain them to a better standard than those next to Vanilla.I’m presuming that they will be facing those? They are falling down.
By Elephant
So yeah not a new concept at all. Sunday morning will be fun. Pushing the pram around the leftover dregs from a Saturday night
By Parrott
This should be the future for inner city development in those British cities that were once full of terraces. It would bring back the lost density, respect prior history, and give people smart, modern, state of the art homes all at the same time.
By Jane Jacobs
@janejacobs I agree this is a good typology for the inner city rather than low density housing estates but in terms of the city centre, they will only work in select locations as part of a planned neighbourhood or on certain infill sites. Not convinced this is the right infill site or location.
By R Moses