St John's, Manchester

St John's
St John's Gardens within St John's, Manchester
St John's Location within Greater Manchester
OS grid reference	SJ8318898056
• London	163 miles (263 km) SE
Metropolitan borough	City of Manchester
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MANCHESTER
Dialling code	0161
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Manchester Central

St John's is a proposed £1 bn development of a 6 hectare plot within central Manchester, England.^[1][2] The site is being developed by Manchester Quays Ltd (MQL), a partnership between Manchester City Council and Allied London.^[3]

Development

The new Granada Hotel will have a red neon sign similar to the original TV station

The development will see up to 2,500 homes, up to 600,000 sq ft of workspace, mostly aimed at creative industries, (80,000 sq ft of this via refurbishment of the Bonded Warehouse), up to 400,000 sq ft of leisure space, incorporating some of the existing entertainment and studio buildings.^[4] The development will be on the former site of Granada Studios but it will extend as far as the Museum of Science and Industry and the Marriott Hotel on Water Street.^[1]

SimpsonHaugh and Partners are behind the masterplan which will also see two fifty storey towers and three hotels, including the Granada Hotel incorporating the iconic red neon 'Granada TV' sign.^[5][6]

Factory International

Main article: Factory International

The development will feature a new £110 million theatre and arts venue called Factory International. Its name comes from Factory Records, the independent record label founded by the late Tony Wilson. The flexible space will provide a permanent home to the Manchester International Festival.^[7][8]

The £9.5m design contracts were put out to tender in July 2015.^[9] The successful company named by the council in November 2015 was the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) with its lead designer Rem Koolhaas.^[10][11][12]

The entire space will cover approximately 13,300 m² (143,000 sq ft) and will be flexible enough to accommodate combined audiences of up to 7,000, although it is envisaged that it will operate mainly as a 1,600-seat theatre space plus a 5,000-capacity warehouse space.^[13][14]

The opening ceremony was planned for the end of 2019,^[14] though this was later revised to June 2023.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ITV report (27 October 2014). "£1bn vision for former ITV site revealed". ITV News Granada Reports. Manchester. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
2. Press release (22 July 2015). "Building excitement as plans for world class arts space The Factory Manchester develop". Manchester City Council. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
3. Thompson, Dan (27 September 2013). "Granada Studios site sold in £26.5m deal". Manchester Evening News. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
4. Swettenham, Jessica (27 October 2014). "Allied submits £1bn St Johns masterplan". Place Northwest. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
5. Schofield, Jonathan (23 June 2015). "REVEALED | Two Fifty Storey Towers Coming To Manchester". Manchester Confidential. Confidential Direct. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
6. Jupp, Adam (24 June 2015). "Allied London reveals plans for St John's quarter former Granada Studios site". Manchester Evening News. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
7. Sherwin, Adam (29 July 2015). "The Factory project: New £110m arts venue named after Tony Wilson's Factory Records to open in Manchester". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
8. Williams, Jennifer (22 July 2015). "Manchester's £110m Factory Theatre takes a big step forward with architects set to be appointed". Manchester Evening News. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
9. Clark, Tim (27 July 2015). "Manchester seeks architect for £110m The Factory venue". Building.co.uk. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
10. admin (26 November 2015). "The Factory Manchester arts building". e-architect. World Architecture. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
11. Brown, Mark (25 November 2015). "Rem Koolhaas wins Factory design project as Manchester goes Dutch". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
12. Staff writer (November 2015). "Images". boltonquinn.com. Bolton & Quinn. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
13. "The Factory". stjohnsmanchester.com. Manchester Quays Ltd (MQL). Retrieved 22 July 2016.
14. Manchester City Council (July 2016). Executive meeting: 16. Updated Draft St Johns Strategic regeneration framework and Factory Manchester (Report). Manchester City Council. p. 10. Retrieved 22 July 2016. Pdf.

External links

• Development's website
• Manchester City Council's Regeneration Team