Go-ahead for next stage in life of Bangor’s Friars Building

The Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government has taken the developer to court in an effort to recoup public money spent on building safety improvements in Manchester.

After five years at Chapman Taylor, Catalina Ionita has joined the landscape architect and urban strategist’s Altrincham office as its urban design studio director.

Work has started on the conversion of 25,000 sq ft at Manchester’s The Hive, after the flex operator signed with landlord Grosvenor.

Cumbria Combined Authority has made one of its first financial commitments in supporting the Workington project, which will now grow Borough Park stadium’s capacity to 5,000.

Catherine Dewar, the organisation’s boss in the region for a decade, has established a consultancy after leaving the heritage organisation at the end of March.

After 27 years in Preston Brook, the architecture practice is moving its Cheshire studio to Vanguard House at the Halton science and innovation campus.

National Museums Liverpool will appoint a contractor to lead the overhaul of the Hartley Pavilion and Dr Martin Luther King Jr Building, providing upgraded settings for the Maritime Museum and International Slavery Museum.

Plans for 37 homes on part of the Demmings Road industrial estate will proceed to Stockport’s main planning committee after receiving a thumbs-up at area level.

Applications from Davos Property Developments and Westchurch Homes, which have a cumulative estimated development cost of £74m, are recommended for approval by city council officers ahead of the planning committee meeting next week.

With an estimated development cost of £13.7m, the mixed-use project from Hasaza Estates would see Everest Pharmacy secure larger premises within a 50,400 sq ft block on the corner of Lane End Road and Kingsway in the Manchester suburb.

Billed as Rose Studios, the 103-bed project has been designed by Enhanced Architecture for SW Properties.

The refurbishment of the grade two star-listed building into a new “nationally significant” cultural destination for the borough could take a major step forward next week despite objections from the Victorian Society and Georgian Group.

After a nervous, nearly six month-wait, Sefton Council has received confirmation that the money promised to mend the grade two-listed structure has been signed off by the Department for Business and Trade.

The landlord of the grade two-listed Eastgate Street venue said it stands ready to invest in the asset after operator Bespoke Hotels announced plans to close it later this year.

The grade two-listed building in Moses Gate Country Park is to be brought back into use as a visitor centre run by the Lancashire Wildlife Trust.

Having secured consent in 2024 to redevelop listed buildings for maritime and slavery-focused facilities, National Museums Liverpool now needs a fresh approval for enabling works that will underpin the Hartley Pavilion’s rebirth.

Less than 30 minutes were needed for Manner’s proposal for the site, 619 student flats over 35 storeys, to be approved unanimously.

The UK’s renewed focus on new towns is prompting fresh debate about how to create places that thrive for generations. At a panel session hosted by Place North, industry leaders were tasked with a thought experiment: how would they design a settlement from scratch?

The 150,000 sq ft lab-led scheme at Liverpool’s Paddington Village has been given a makeover, with the aluminium facade replaced with a more traditional aesthetic.