Greengate - where vision becomes reality /
Updated: Jul 14, 2020
Greater Manchester’s property market has been significantly on the rise since the beginning of this year and is beating record after record in project delivery and pipeline. However, there is one Salford area, around the Manchester City Centre border, which significantly stood out from the rest during the months of February and March. The area which MEP Design would like to focus on in this blog is Greengate, City of Salford.
Greengate comprises 13 hectares of strategically located land bounded by the River Irwell, Victoria Bridge Street and Chapel Street, Blackfriars Road and Trinity Way, which forms part of the Manchester inner ring road.
It is fair to say that Greengate, the oldest part and the heart of the medieval town of Salford, famous for its cotton mills is currently experiencing a period of intensive development activity and economic growth which is heavily supported by Salford City Council since publication of their Greengate regeneration strategy.
Figure 1 - Greengate, City of Salford
To support the fast growing demand for modern living accommodation, dilapidated buildings have been re-purposed or replaced for the modern era. Large organisations have moved into the wider area, the BBC starting the relocation into Salford in 2006 and the Peel Group beginning the transformation of Media City in 2007.
The refreshed master regeneration plan announced by Salford City Council in February 2018, expects the Greengate Quarter to become an area “where people and businesses, from near and far, can find the space they need to thrive, prosper, create and connect”.
The plans for improvement were actively welcomed by various developers and around £950 million of investment was injected into the City of Salford between 2016/17 to 2019/20; with a further £900 million expected between 2020/21 and 2025/26. Projects such as Exchange Court, Embankment 101, City Suites and One Greengate were successfully delivered during the first phase of the regeneration plan.
According to Deloitte's annual Crane Survey, around 5,000 residential units were under construction within Salford in 2019.
MEP Design carried out mechanical, electrical and public health engineering services support for Trinity Riverview and Greengate HJ&K, both commissioned by Renaker Build. Designed by OMI Architects - Greengate HJ&K comprises nearly 600 residential dwellings, drawing even more inward investment to the area, alongside Salboy’s Queen Street development, Anaconda Cut and with the recent planning approval of One Heritage Tower, the tallest building in Salford at 55 storeys.
Figure 2 - Trinity Riverview (under construction) architect's impression (photo courtesy of DCM Architects)
Figure 3 - Greengate HJ&K – Architects image (photo courtesy of OMI Architects)
The objectives of Greengate’s face lift were very clear in its outline:
● increase residential space
● provide high quality residential space at an affordable price and as a result attract new business and services to the area
● develop culture, leisure and promote lifestyle to attract new residents and workers
● improve connectivity to and within Salford City Centre, to support a growing workforce and visitor population and provide an attractive and navigable environment.
Salford City Council’s goals and aspirations seem to be working its way up as we watch the City of Salford and in particular Greengate news taking centre stage across Greater Manchester. These multi million pound schemes are contributing to improving cycle and bus routes, new bars and restaurants are springing up and residential property development is driving more investment than ever.
The vision of the new Greengate slowly turns into reality and it’s exciting to watch it develop.
If you would like to find out more about MEP Design’s involvement in Greengate and Trinity Riverview projects, please contact us on admin@mepdesign.co.uk.