Water Street scheme in Castlefield to replace previous framework agreed in 2017
Manchester city council is consulting the public on plans by Simpson Haugh to increase the size of four proposed residential towers in Castlefield which would deliver hundreds of homes.
The Water Street scheme would add to a new high-rise cluster emerging on the western edge of Castlefield, joining the four-tower Trinity Islands scheme which is also designed by Simpson Haugh for Renaker and currently under construction.
The heights of the proposed Water Street towers have not been defined in the consultation but drawings appear to show them around the same height or slightly shorter than the Trinity Island scheme, which tops out at 60 storeys.
This would be taller than a previous strategic regeneration framework (SRF) for the site agreed in 2017 which proposed buildings rising up to 31 storeys with around 900 homes.
The council said its fresh SRF aimed to “significantly increase the ambition for the neighbourhood” and aligned with its policy to support high-density residential development in the city centre.
It added that the construction of nearby tall buildings had “fundamentally changed” the context of the surrounding area, meaning the site’s undeveloped land presented a “strategic opportunity”.
The proposed buildings would replace four council-owned industrial sheds in a part of the city which has been severely fragmented by major roads, two railway viaducts and a network of canals.
The development would seek to repair the area’s urban corridors with new pedestrian and cycle networks and a new canalside park which would be of comparable size to the city’s 6.5-acre Mayfield Park.
The consultation is available online and closes on Monday 25 May.
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