EDAW to bring European-style living to Manchester

A £1 billion plan to transform the east end of Manchester from 'Coronation Street to Copenhagen' has been approved by Manchester City Council.

The 4,300 home Holt Town Waterfront development is being billed as Manchester's largest ever regeneration scheme, and according to EDAW, the masterplanner behind the 38ha project, will create 'high-density family living'.

The project, for developer Cibitas, will see the regeneration of a run-down, wedge-shaped plot next to the 2002 Commonwealth Games-driven Sportcity development, less than 1km from the city centre.

Project director Andy Spracklen believes the proposals will 'radically shift urban family living in Manchester towards a European model' with a mix of dense houses, family apartments and duplexes around the perimeter, and internal courtyards 'on a domestic scale' within.

It will also include a new Metrolink tram stop, a primary school, offices, shops and bars.

The go-ahead could open up a potential goldmine of work for architects as sites are gradually released over the next 10 to 15 years – most, the AJ understands, to developer/architect competitions.

David Shelton, managing director at Cibitas, said that maintaining design quality was 'absolutely fundamental' to the success of the plan, and that winning developers would have to work within the EDAW 'design vision'.

However, Shelton believes that the constraints of the project, especially the high density, will need highly innovative responses. 'I genuinely don't know another scheme treading the same ground as Holt Town,' he said.

'Developers will not be able to turn up with "One we made earlier".'