30% of the homes will be available at the Manchester Living Rent, keeping these affordable to residents on full housing benefit and expanding the city centre housing choices for people on low incomes. The rest will be available at market rent.
“Marking our first start-on-site for This City is a real moment for us’ said Cllr Gavin White, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development, ‘The aim for This City is about using Council-owned land to build the homes that our residents need, that our residents can afford, in locations they want to live. Rodney Street exemplifies this vision.
“The regeneration journey of Ancoats over the last 20 years has been a remarkable achievement, and this development continues that story, creating low carbon homes and affordable housing options in the city centre, complemented by quality green space and sustainable transport options.
Marking our first start-on-site for This City is a real moment for us. The aim for This City is about using Council-owned land to build the homes that our residents need, that our residents can afford, in locations they want to live.
Cllr Gavin White, Exec Member for Housing and Employnment, Manchester City Council
This City is bringing long-term brownfield land at Rodney Street in Ancoats back into use, creating high quality housing in a highly sustainable location where people can walk, cycle and use nearby public transport to support city centre living.
Cllr Gavin White said, “The road to building this type of housing is always challenging, particularly in the context of the current economic conditions, but we are proud to celebrate these homes and what they will mean to the Manchester people who live in them.”
The homes are also set to benefit from the nearby Ancoats Mobility Hub – a new concept that centralises car parking for new development, reducing the need for onsite parking and cutting car traffic in the neighbourhood. With parking spaces at the Mobility Hub, as well as space for bike parking and electric vehicle or ‘EV’ charging points, this makes a valuable contribution to the development’s sustainability goals.
Sustainability has also played a significant role in the design with many ecological features being incorporated
Ben Tabiner, associate director of Butress
A significant number of new trees will be planted to help green outdoor spaces and complement a wider public realm strategy that sees £32m of funding from Homes England being invested to make major improvements to the wider Ancoats Green area. Set to become ‘the green heart of the community’ the aim is for the area to become a low-carbon, sustainable neighbourhood that supports active travel.
Commenting on the design philosophy, Ben Tabiner, associate director of Butress who are the architects for the development said, “Our approach at Rodney Street is to create a simple and elegant design which responds to its surrounding areas. We’ve worked hard to ensure that the homes have good links with their surrounding areas by positioning the apartment blocks on either side of a new tree-lined and planted street. The green street will create a strong connection across the site and will encourage movement through the area and beyond. The area is also surrounded by original historical streets, and we wanted to reflect this in our designs by opting for a palette of red brickwork in complementary tones.
“Sustainability has also played a significant role in the design with many ecological features being incorporated: such as the buildings being developed in line with the Association for Environment Conscious Building’s (AECB) low carbon standard as well as being fossil fuel free whilst the sun’s energy is maximised with the benefits of passive solar design. The combination of mechanical ventilation and heat recovery (MVHR) and heat pump technology will help to keep the energy running costs low for future occupants.”
The scheme is being built by Wates, who are making significant commitments to delivering Social Value through their delivery of the project.
Dave Saville, Regional Managing Director for Construction North at Wates, commented,
“Rodney Street represents a pioneering shift in development approach for Manchester City Council and we’re proud to support them in their ambitions. We’ve worked closely with our project partners and the Council since the scheme’s inception to carefully plan out how we can ensure Rodney Street delivers its sustainability goals, as well as provide lasting benefit to the wider Ancoats community through Social Value initiatives.
These initiatives have so far created 140 weeks of work experience for students, invested £500,000 into local Voluntary Community and Social Enterprises, as well as providing 200 hours of voluntary time to local community projects – which Wates has already delivered nearly twice over.
Work to Ancoats Green and the wider public realm will begin later in 2023. Feasibility studies are already underway for future phases of This City development, with around 1,500 homes in the immediate pipeline.
Contents of this article were correct at time of press.
