Finance watchdogs at Manchester city council have been warned that construction-market pressures are placing a question mark over the £130.62m budget for OMA’s The Factory arts complex.

The authority last year committed an additional £19m to the project, which was first granted planning permission in 2017, after accepting that its original £110m budget had been set before any detailed site investigation or design work had taken place.

Councillors on Manchester’s resources and governance scrutiny committee have this week been told that the “complexity” of the building’s design is the project’s “most significant challenge”. They heard the unique nature of the project was acting as a deterrent to some contractors able to pick and choose more straightforward work amid Manchester’s booming construction market.

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