Consultants vie for £110m Manchester arts venue

The developers behind plans for the £110m Factory arts venue in Manchester have shortlisted 39 firms for the main design team roles on the project.

Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas and Haworth Tompkins are among the big guns shortlisted for the architect role for the development at the city’s former Granada studios site. Rafael Viñoly, Diller Scofidio & Renfro, Bennetts Associates, Simpson Haugh & Partners, Grimshaw and Mecanoo complete the architect shortlist.

Turner & Townsend, Gardiner & Theobald, Gleeds, EC Harris and Rider Levett Bucknall make up the QS shorltist, while Expedition, Arup, WSP, Buro Happold and Mott MacDonald are vying for the structural engineer role.

Firms have also been shortlisted for the roles of building services engineer, fire engineer, acoustic engineer and theatre consultant.

The city council whittled down the list from 86 applications for the various roles - 48 firms applied for the architecture role.

Winners are due to be appointed in the middle of November with a view to a planning application being submitted mid-2016 and construction starting in early 2017. The opening is slated for summer 2019.

Manchester city council said it would directly procure the design teams and contractor, supported by development partner Allied London. Allied London will be responsible for delivering the facility and co-ordinating work between The Factory and the wider St John’s regeneration scheme, which is a joint venture between it and the council on the old Granada Studios.

The government pledged £78m in last year’s autumn statement towards The Factory project as part of its Northern Powerhouse initiative. Some £3.5m of this is being released in 2015-16 so the procurement of design services can begin.

The full cost of the project is £110m, of which £84m relates to the construction costs.