Here are six construction sites that epitomise Manchester's changing cityscape, from a slum regeneration in a stricken suburb to this £1bn legal district being built in the heart of the commercial centre.
The largest brownfield regeneration scheme in europe
What's it called and where is it?
Manchester Civil Justice Centre, in the Spinningfields district in central Manchester.
What's the story?
Containing 47 civil courts, the long, thin building is 15 storeys high and is noteworthy for its series of staggered cantilevered glass boxes that stick out from each end of the building like a half-finished Lego model.
Who's involved?
The developer is Allied London Properties, the architect is Denton Corker Marshall, the structural and services engineer is Connell Mott MacDonald, the QS is Gardiner & Theobald and the contractor is Bovis Lend Lease.
How much does it cost and when will it be finished?
£113m, and due for completion in January 2007.
"This is the largest brownfield regeneration scheme in Europe," says Stephen McNelis, waving at the hive of activity taking place below his office window. "It's going to be the new legal centre of Manchester." The Civil Justice Centre is the highlight of the regeneration of Spinningfields, where £1bn is being spent turning 418,000 m2 of rundown 1960s buildings into a city quarter fit for the 21st century.
The hope is that lawyers will occupy a decent chunk of the 230,000 m2 of offices being built. There will be plenty of wining, dining and retail therapy in 30,500 m2 of shops, restaurants and bars, and 391 apartments for those who want to roll out of bed and into the office, whether that be the newly completed magistrates' court, the existing crown court or the Civil Justice Centre. A five-star hotel completes the development.
Manchester Civil Justice Centre, in the Spinningfields district in central Manchester.
The largest single healthcare investment ever in greater manchester
What's it called and where is it?
The Manchester Joint Hospitals Project is located in the once infamous Moss Side area of Manchester.
What's the story?
A large campus-style hospital, existing buildings are being progressively replaced over five years with 15 new buildings. An outpatients unit has been finished, a 1600-space car park is just about to be handed over, a rehabilitation day unit is due to be finished in March and work is under way on an inpatient mental health unit.
Who's involved?
The PFI consortium comprises contractor Bovis Lend Lease, bank HSBC and FM specialist Sodexho. The architect is Anshen Dyer, the structural engineer is Connell Mott MacDonald, the services engineer is DSSR and the QS is Cyril Sweett.
How much does it cost and when will it be finished?
It will take five years to build at a cost of £383m, and is due for completion in 2010.
"The key challenges are the scale and magnitude of the project, the level of detail that is needed and the fact it's an operational hospital," says John Hyne, Bovis Lend Lease's project director. "In construction there is nothing that brings you to your senses more than working in an operational hospital. There are 1000 people on this project and between 1500 and 2000 hospital staff are on the site at any one time. Establishing and maintaining relationships between all the disciplines is essential."
For Hyne this leads to a number of practical issues. For a start, services in the existing buildings must be maintained all the time. A new energy centre is being built and switching over supplies will be a delicate task. He also has to minimise background noise from piling and excavation work and ensure traffic can move freely throughout the complex. These issues are particularly pertinent at the moment. "We are under pressure for political reasons," says Hyne, referring to concerns over hospital waiting lists.
Work in progress on the mental health inpatient unit
The smallest new-build microflats in britain
What's it called and where is it?
Abito, in central Salford.
What's the story?
The nine-storey development includes 256 of the smallest flats for sale around, each just 35 m2 in area.
Who's involved?
Ask is the developer, with Building Design Partnership as architect and engineer and Carillion as contractor.
How much does it cost and when will it be finished?
£50m, to be completed in December 2006.
Manchester is energetically maintaining its position as Britain's microflat capital. Abito's 256 minuscule apartments are Ask Development's answer to MoHo, launched by Urban Splash last summer. The big difference is that instead of volumetric timber-framed prefabrication as adopted by Urban Splash, Ask has gone for insitu tunnel-form concrete construction behind curtainwall facades, taking out the labour-intensive site trades of brickwork and plastering.
This leaves concrete specialist MPB as the key subcontractor on site. "The tunnel-form system took a lot of thinking to get right," says site manager Vince Connolly. "But once we'd got over the learning curve, it's all pretty repetitive." Connolly points to the pair of large L-shaped steel formwork panels around which the concrete shell of each flat is cast. Six pairs of tunnel-form panels were purpose-designed and manufactured by Form-Fab for Abito, and these enable three apartments to be cast every day, with the other three pairs of panels being lined up for the day after.
The shell of each 35 m2 microflat is cast in How central Salford’s answer to Urban Splash’s MoHo is envisaged.
Salford's slum clearance and redevelopment
What's it called and where is it?
Broughton Green in Higher Broughton, north Salford.
What's the story?
Part of Manchester Salford Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder, Broughton Green consists of 180 townhouses and low-rise flats, the first phase of a 800-home development.
Who's involved?
The developer is a PPP comprising Salford council, Royal Bank of Scotland, City Spirit and In Partnership. Church Lucas is the architect and Taylor Woodrow Construction is the design-and-build contractor.
How much does it cost and when will it be completed?
£29m, due for completion in early 2007.
One inflammatory phrase sums up the Broughton Green development in north Manchester: slum clearance. The 800 homes are being built under the auspices of the ODPM's controversial housing market renewal pathfinders, which is intended to demolish and redevelop swaths of old terraced housing. In the 180-home first phase, panellised timber-frame construction prefabricated by Space Four has been adopted in response to Manchester's skills shortage. "The panellised system lets us start work inside as soon as the frame and roof are up, and this takes the facing brickwork off the critical path," says Taylor Woodrow's project manager, John Millington. The special trick here is that panels are simply craned into position without scaffolding. "The site is quite tight, and so is the 96-week programme, so leaving out the scaffolding saves time, money and space."
Old brick terraces are cleared away for redevelopment
Reviving a piece of 1960s manchester
What's it called and where is it?
Lakeside in Blackley, north Manchester.
What's the story?
Four 1960s tower blocks of council housing are being converted and 30 townhouses are being newly built for sale at low prices to first-time buyers.
Who's involved?
LPC Living is the developer, with Leach Rhodes Walker as architect and CDL of Liverpool as contractor.
How much does it cost and when will it be finished?
£24m, to be completed in late 2006.
At Blackley, rejuvenation is under way of that most despised housing form: the 1960s council tower block. The flats are being stripped out, radically reconfigured and then refurbished with smart new finishes, kitchens and bathrooms. Prices start at as low as £6000 for a single-bed flat.
Construction work in the old tower blocks is unavoidably messy and labour-intensive. Even so, Dave Garry, CDL's straight-talking site manager, denies there are overriding problems with labour and skills shortages. He does, however, concede: "Basically, you have to look after the men, otherwise they'll be off. I've got great bricklayers and I'm paying them a bit over the odds, but I want to keep them." Garry's main concerns are health and safety and complaints from neighbours about noise and lorry traffic. "It's a high-risk site - that's just the nature of the multistorey beast. So health and safety is a priority, and we have an inspection once a week. And to keep the neighbours happy, we try to work at weekends and we invite them in once a month to sort things out."
A Blackley tower block post-conversion, with an unconverted block behind it
The Spinningfields area of Manchester typifies the radical transformation of the city.
Formerly 1960s offices, it is set to become a legal quarter, with the Manchester Civil Justice Centre (above) as its flagship. The building’s series of staggered glass boxes are destined to become a city landmark.
Looking down on proceedings
The Beetham Tower at 301 Deansgate will be the UK’s tallest residential building when it is completed next year. At 171 m, it is visible all over Manchester and is a towering reminder of the frenzied construction activity taking place below. Designed by Ian Simpson Architects, the 47-storey building, with its distinctive 4 m overhang halfway up, will contain a 285-bed Hilton hotel occupying the first 23 floors and 219 apartments above. The contractor is Carillion.
It’s a goldmine, but beware the pitfalls
“I’ve never seen so many tower cranes in the city as today and it seems to be growing,” says Danny Murray, Amec’s operations director for building in the North-west, before proudly pointing out that many of the aforementioned cranes are to be found on sites run by his company. The firm has to compete with other big players in the region, such as Bovis Lend Lease and Sir Robert McAlpine, but fortunately there is plenty of work to go round.
This boom presents challenges for contractors in Manchester. Amec works in a range of sectors including education, roads and industrial, but it’s the apartment sector that is really overheating. “People who own plots of land are desperate to get planning approval for flats as the land will rocket in value,” he says. “There are about 9000 apartments in preliminary planning in Manchester at the moment and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down.”
This means a shortage of skilled construction workers. “This is the biggest challenge for us because it’s such a draw on the resources of the supply chain. It causes a lot of uncertainty in the development programme in terms of delivery.” It’s a merry-go-round, he says. “You might be expecting 20 plasterers. But only 10 turn up because the other 10 have migrated to the site across the road as the plastering contractor has offered them a few pennies more per square metre,” he says. “Then you see them a few weeks later because there’s something they don’t like about working on the other site.” He adds that the apartment boom has had a knock-on effect on other sectors. “That’s why it is vitally important to have a key supply chain in place.” He adds that, thankfully, contractors don’t have any problems with material supplies.
Murray thinks finding residents for all these apartments will be easier now that the centre of Manchester is being reinvigorated. “There’s a lot of people who want to come back and live in the city. It’s vibrant and pleasant and the facilities are good; there’s more choice than five years ago.”
Postscript
Photography by Tim Crocker
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