Wednesday, October 17, 2023
Topping out at Manchester's Piccadilly Basin
One of Manchester's greenest buildings, the flagship BDP Architects, Engineers and Designers northern headquarters at Piccadilly Basin, is celebrating reaching the topping out stage after work began on the unique 'green' building in late 2006.
Upon its completion at the end of this year, the striking 5 storey, 31,450sq ft office building will be the first naturally ventilated commercial office building in Manchester to have achieved the much coveted 2006 BREEAM Excellent rating for environmental sustainability. Designed by BDP to house their 275 strong Manchester team, the building has already received high commendation for the clever pairing of architectural excellence with commitment to sustainability.
The canal side building, part of Town Centre Securities' £250m regeneration scheme, will feature stunning glazed elevations cantilevered over the Canal Basin, providing inspirational and flexible design studio space. Employees will be able to take full advantage of the magnificent views creating an enviable working location. Key sustainable features include its proximity to city centre transport hubs, reuse of a brown field site and a location that facilitates natural ventilation. In addition, the building will include recycled aggregates in its high thermal mass structure, utilise exposed concrete soffits / automatic night time cooling and harvest rainwater for reuse.
Stephen Redfern, Business Director for BDP reports; "It's very exciting that we are at the topping out stage on our new offices at Piccadilly Basin and can now get a real feel for the building. Key to our decision to relocate to Piccadilly Basin was finding a developer in TCS that shared our own vision of a sustainable future. The challenges in developing a naturally ventilated BREEAM Excellent building are significant and TCS had both the location and forward thinking approach to jointly achieve our sustainable goal. The integrated design of our building reflects BDP's commitment to sustainability and the new design studios will provide a flexible working environment that is responsive to change and will showcase BDP's design vision."
Chairman and Chief Executive of Town Centre Securities, Edward Ziff, continues; "Sustainability has always been a driving force behind our development agenda, so we have been very fortunate in attracting BDP to Piccadilly Basin as they share our commitment to the green agenda. The BDP headquarters is a complex, albeit fascinating building that I'm sure will continue to generate great interest throughout all stages of its development."
Council Leader Sir Richard Leese, who officiated the ceremony, added; "BDPs new headquarters makes both a stunning and sustainable contribution to the future of an historically important quarter in the City Centre. The City Council is delighted to be working with designers and developers bringing this level of quality to Manchester".
Kier North West has been appointed as contractor for the BDP building and Phil Hornsby, Contracts Manager for Kier North West, explains the work undertaken; "Due to its positioning on a very small site next to the canal, the building is a complicated but exciting project. Since starting on site last year we have undertaken a great deal of structural work, with over 100 piles driven into the ground, with each pile carrying up to 2000kn to support the framework. Now that we are at the topping out stage, the attention to quality that has been paid throughout the design has become evident and undoubtedly, the end result will be very impressive."
Piccadilly Basin is fast transforming into a true urban oasis with the newly refurbished canals, picturesque marina, riverside walkways and landscaped areas creating a tranquil community for all occupiers. The BDP building comprises part of approximately 400,000sq ft of office accommodation to be contained in a variety of new and historic buildings at the 12.8 acre City Centre site. The sensitively restored, listed Carvers Warehouse offers over 22,000 sq ft of unique office space over 6 floors and the outstanding Eider House will offer new, efficient floorplates of over 20,000sq ft, with additional design and build development opportunities available within the waterside setting.
Upon completion, Piccadilly Basin will offer a vibrant mix of offices, residential, retail & leisure uses, transforming the site into one of the City's most sought after locations. Leading commercial agents, Lambert Smith Hampton and Cushman & Wakefield are the Manchester office agents on the scheme.
Upon its completion at the end of this year, the striking 5 storey, 31,450sq ft office building will be the first naturally ventilated commercial office building in Manchester to have achieved the much coveted 2006 BREEAM Excellent rating for environmental sustainability. Designed by BDP to house their 275 strong Manchester team, the building has already received high commendation for the clever pairing of architectural excellence with commitment to sustainability.
The canal side building, part of Town Centre Securities' £250m regeneration scheme, will feature stunning glazed elevations cantilevered over the Canal Basin, providing inspirational and flexible design studio space. Employees will be able to take full advantage of the magnificent views creating an enviable working location. Key sustainable features include its proximity to city centre transport hubs, reuse of a brown field site and a location that facilitates natural ventilation. In addition, the building will include recycled aggregates in its high thermal mass structure, utilise exposed concrete soffits / automatic night time cooling and harvest rainwater for reuse.
Stephen Redfern, Business Director for BDP reports; "It's very exciting that we are at the topping out stage on our new offices at Piccadilly Basin and can now get a real feel for the building. Key to our decision to relocate to Piccadilly Basin was finding a developer in TCS that shared our own vision of a sustainable future. The challenges in developing a naturally ventilated BREEAM Excellent building are significant and TCS had both the location and forward thinking approach to jointly achieve our sustainable goal. The integrated design of our building reflects BDP's commitment to sustainability and the new design studios will provide a flexible working environment that is responsive to change and will showcase BDP's design vision."
Chairman and Chief Executive of Town Centre Securities, Edward Ziff, continues; "Sustainability has always been a driving force behind our development agenda, so we have been very fortunate in attracting BDP to Piccadilly Basin as they share our commitment to the green agenda. The BDP headquarters is a complex, albeit fascinating building that I'm sure will continue to generate great interest throughout all stages of its development."
Council Leader Sir Richard Leese, who officiated the ceremony, added; "BDPs new headquarters makes both a stunning and sustainable contribution to the future of an historically important quarter in the City Centre. The City Council is delighted to be working with designers and developers bringing this level of quality to Manchester".
Kier North West has been appointed as contractor for the BDP building and Phil Hornsby, Contracts Manager for Kier North West, explains the work undertaken; "Due to its positioning on a very small site next to the canal, the building is a complicated but exciting project. Since starting on site last year we have undertaken a great deal of structural work, with over 100 piles driven into the ground, with each pile carrying up to 2000kn to support the framework. Now that we are at the topping out stage, the attention to quality that has been paid throughout the design has become evident and undoubtedly, the end result will be very impressive."
Piccadilly Basin is fast transforming into a true urban oasis with the newly refurbished canals, picturesque marina, riverside walkways and landscaped areas creating a tranquil community for all occupiers. The BDP building comprises part of approximately 400,000sq ft of office accommodation to be contained in a variety of new and historic buildings at the 12.8 acre City Centre site. The sensitively restored, listed Carvers Warehouse offers over 22,000 sq ft of unique office space over 6 floors and the outstanding Eider House will offer new, efficient floorplates of over 20,000sq ft, with additional design and build development opportunities available within the waterside setting.
Upon completion, Piccadilly Basin will offer a vibrant mix of offices, residential, retail & leisure uses, transforming the site into one of the City's most sought after locations. Leading commercial agents, Lambert Smith Hampton and Cushman & Wakefield are the Manchester office agents on the scheme.
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