Manchester City Council has opened consultation on plans for a digital-focused civil service hub in the city.
Consultation documents for the site reveal two civil service offices totalling 861,100 sq ft will be built in phase one of the council’s plans to redevelop the site of the former Central Retail Park shopping centre, which is roughly 500m from Manchester Piccadilly Station.
The Government Property Agency will submit a planning application for the so-called Manchester Digital Campus later this year, with the hope of starting construction in 2026.
The GPA signed a deal to acquire a five-hectare piece of land on the Ancoats site in May.
Once completed, around 7,000 civil servants are expected to work from the hub, around half of whom have yet to be recruited.
The office blocks will each be between seven and nine storeys. They will have retail units on the ground floor on Great Ancoats Street, which the GPA said would fill a "gap" on the shopping street.
Plans for the hub include a "canal plaza" – a "welcoming and accessible entry to the site, embracing the canal and waterfront setting, opening the view to the conservation area and providing a high quality space to dwell with trees and attractive planting".
The boulevard between the two buildings will be well lit and "incorporate artwork celebrating digital technology".
The campus will "promote the use of sustainable and active travel" through improvements to existing pedestrian routes and secure storage for between 200 and 400 bikes. There is the potential to add more storage at a later date "in response to wider cycle infrastructure improvements", according to the GPA.
On-site car parking will be limited, with around 50 accessible spaces "designed for those with increased accessibility needs".
Manchester was selected as the site for the digital campus because it will enable the civil service to draw on a "growing digitally-focused workforce in and around the city", according to the consultation.
The GPA also cited the "emerging pipeline of talent" from the city’s universities and other educational institutions, and the chance to bring together existing civil servants to drive efficiency, productivity and collaboration as reasons for the move.
"The GPA’s vision is to create great workplaces that enable and inspire everyone to be their best. When they started looking for a site for a new civil service hub in Manchester, the former Central Retail Park quickly became the obvious choice. Its size, coupled with its proximity to public transport and city centre amenities, makes it a unique development opportunity within the city," it said.
The consultation comes nearly a year and a half after Manchester City Council said the GPA was “exploring options for delivering office solutions in Manchester to meet the needs of various civil service departments”.
The GPA's commitment to the site would “provide the catalyst to deliver the masterplan and provide socio-economic benefits, including new high-quality jobs”, it said at the time.
The GPA now says the digital campus will deliver over £10bn in economic benefits to Greater Manchester across a 50 year period, including over £300m during the construction phase. The project will create 6,000 construction jobs, according to the consultation documents.
The GPA is aiming to achieve a five-star NABERS rating – a metric that measures the environmental sustainability of buildings, which runs from one to six stars. It is also aiming for an "excellent" BREEAM rating on the sustainability certification's scale, which rates buildings between poor and outstanding.
Park plans
The former Central Retail Park site is "one of Manchester’s most important regeneration priorities", according to the joint consultation opened by the council and the GPA.
"The vision for the site is to develop a highly sustainable commercial district with a fully accessible new park at its heart, which will make a positive contribution to this part of the city centre, attract new businesses and create jobs," it adds.
The consultation documents also include designs for a 1.7-acre park, which will be created as part of the first phase of the redevelopment project.
The park will have multiple levels and will include walking routes and access to Cotton Field Park and Ancoats Marina.
Consultation documents include the planting of more than 100 trees, a 6,500 sq ft wildflower meadow, space for outdoor gym equipment, a play area, and plenty of seating spaces.
The consultation runs until 23 September, with two in-person consultation sessions to be held on 10 September.