Miles Platting

Sawley Road

Client

Brookdale Homes

Sector

Residential

Scale

£5.0m

Status

RIBA Stage 5
(Manufacturing and Construction)

Brief

Brookdale Homes appointed us to design a part-two, -three, -four and -five storey residential development, supported by communal and private amenity space, secure private car and cycle parking.

Challenges + Solutions

Our challenge was to provide contemporary, cutting-edge, affordable and community-orientated apartment family living to enhance the regeneration plan and its delivery of more traditionally designed homes. Our proposal was considered a ‘marker’ building sited on the boundary of a new masterplan of 1,000 new houses and almost 1,500 refurbished council properties.

Our objectives were two-fold, as we wanted to create a thriving community as well as building a connection to the wider area. The proposal recognised an increase in demand for family living within affordable, managed apartment accommodation similar to that of our European neighbours, but more than that; we wanted to create a distinctive design that responded to Manchester’s position as one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world for its size, recognising that 153 languages are spoken and the city is represented by nearly every culture in the world.

The architectural (external) skin of the proposed building is facing brickwork with punched openings, demonstrating an irregular window pattern/rhythm. These, combined with feature balconies, help to provide significant visual interest. The overall mass of the building is broken horizontally via the use of a different colour brick plus a set-back in building line.