The approach has been to re-introduce a ‘back of pavement’ edge to Old Deansgate, to reinstate the local urban fabric and to create a sense of enclosure and containment to the development.
The proposed scheme consists of four blocks varying in height from five to seven storeys and is based on a four-apartment cluster around the vertical circulation core. The four blocks are arranged in a linear fashion, echoing the warehouse which occupied the site in previous times. Each of the blocks is separated by glazed screens which respond to the common area, giving an identity to each block and reducing the scale of the whole. Every block has its own front door and entrance is gained by crossing a series of timber and steel bridges.