King’s Cross architect to lead consultant team including Civic Engineers on ’one of biggest growth opportunities in country’
Allies & Morrison has been picked to develop a 10,000-home masterplan for land around Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium.
The practice behind the King’s Cross regeneration project will lead a consultant team including SLA landscape, Civic Engineers and JLL for the mixed-use development of the Trafford Wharfside site.
The team was appointed following a tender exercise by Trafford council, which owns the land, with the project being part of the wider regeneration of the Old Trafford site which includes a new 100,000-seat stadium designed by Foster & Partners.
The Wharfside project will focus on waterfront land facing Manchester Ship Canal, opposite Chapman Taylor’s MediaCityUK development on Salford Quays.
Trafford council said the site, which is well served by public transport links, offers “tremendous opportunity for future growth and potential”.
The team will work with both the council and the football club along with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and a proposed Mayoral Development Corporation to deliver the masterplan, which is expected to be complete by early next year.
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The council’s executive member for economy and regeneration Liz Patel said the scheme was “one of the biggest growth opportunities in the country”.
“New homes, new neighbourhoods, new businesses, new jobs, new green spaces and new community facilities – all within walking distance of public transport.
“A lot of publicity has been about Manchester United’s new stadium – this regeneration will complement those plans, and our master plan will be central to shaping the future of this area,” she said.
Allies & Morrison partner Paul Eaton described the appointment as a “huge opportunity for Trafford, for the city and for our Manchester studio”.
“Trafford Wharfside has been recognised for some time as a focus for regeneration in the city, with the potential to become a thriving new neighbourhood,” he said.
“Our team will shape a proposal for the area that realises this exciting potential; a sustainable, deliverable vision that integrates new homes and employment with sport, supporting Trafford’s aspirations and ambitions for the future.”
Foster & Partners’ plans for the new £2bn stadium, which include three 200m-tall spires, were revealed last month. The practice is leading on a separate masterplan for land owned by Manchester United which includes the site of the existing Old Trafford stadium.
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