Great expectations
HOW LANDMARK CITY CENTRE WAREHOUSE COULD LOOK IF £300M TRANSFORMATION IS GIVEN GO-AHEAD
THIS is how Manchester’s Great Northern Warehouse could look following a £300m transformation.
The amphitheatre could be covered and turned into public green space and some of the complex could be turned into nearly 150 swanky flats.
A gym and space for new bars, restaurants and shops are also included in the plans, which were first revealed last summer.
Blueprints and more detailed proposals have now been submitted to Manchester council.
A new street running parallel to Deansgate, named Dean Street, would be home to independent cafes, restaurants and bars.
The cinema, casino and ground floor businesses – including Home Sweet Home and All Star Lanes – will stay.
Initial plans for the listed Victorian warehouse and square prompted a public backlash.
Leaked images of a proposed structure – dubbed a ‘giant insect on stilts’ – were mocked by Mancunians and were later ditched.
Developers Trilogy Real Estate and Peterson, architects at the renowned firm SimpsonHaugh and contractors Laing O’Rourke went back to the drawing board before tabling revised plans.
The project, if given the go-ahead, will be carried out in two phases.
The first would see the amphitheatre covered with lawns and trees.
The second phase would see apartments built in space currently used as parking at the building and the creation of Dean Street.
Planning documents read: “The Great Northern is a site of significant scale, historic and strategic importance, covering 4.5 hectares of the city centre.
“However, it is currently under-used, and presents many barriers to pedestrian movement and connectivity.
“It does not make best use of its historic assets, which are in urgent need of repair, or fulfil the potential of its public realm or commercial floor space.
“The current configuration of the site is poorly connected into the wider city centre, creating a lack of legibility or sense of place.”
GNW Developments took on the site in 2013, with a number of restaurants, leisure spaces and offices opening.
Bosses now want to build a ‘vibrant, mixed-use city quarter’ which ‘respects and celebrates the building’s unique character.’