Structural Alteration and Fit-Out

Based on the corner of Princess Street and Whitworth Street in central Manchester and with the Rochdale Canal running along the northern boundary of the site logistics was naturally one of the main challenges with the project. An internal site set up was established, pavement and scaffold licenses were obtained to carry out external repair works and all deliveries were made outside of peak hours in order to mitigate disruption. One of the 3 interlinked buildings is Grade II listed therefore we had to liaise with the local conservation officer to agree the treatment and preservation techniques for listed features. As with any refurb within a historic building the MEP service routes provided a particular challenge and to coordinate the designs with the building as areas were opened up we used an on site MEP Co-ordinator to ensure that effective solutions were delivered.

Phelan appointed Leach Rhodes Walker as our design partner who worked alongside the client's LA based concept architect Matt Grzywinski of Grzywinski + Pons to bring their vision to life. The often quirky design made use of the existing building fabric in some cases showcasing the imperfections in the original fabric. The mixture of new and old, modern and traditional has proven extremely popular with the aparthotel reporting consistent high levels of occupancy since its opening A lot of the specified finishes from G + P were not readily available in the UK therefore the process of sourcing and agreeing samples of suitable alternatives was undertaken as the work progressed resulting in a finished product that was faithful to the design and has also been externally recognised by the National Building Awards where the scheme won Project of the Year (£10-25m) in 2019.