Residential towers have defined the transformation of Manchester, flipping the dial to make inner-city living a norm and turning their backs on its heritage as the world’s first modern industrial city. Included here is the latest from Manchester’s original tower-meisters SimpsonHaugh – One Port Street, which, rather than throwing shapes, presents a more restrained Miesian profile.
A tower is also part of the second phase of Gary Neville’s St Michael’s development, designed by Hodder + Partners, but Phase 1, which completed last year, saw a city block reworked, mixing offices, food and beverage around a new square behind the Old Police Station’s retained façade.
In other city block transformations and reinventions, BTP Architects has elegantly upgraded the skin of a noughties shedkm housing block, while Tim Groom Architects has doubled down on the US-scaled blocks found in the city with a student housing block reminiscent of Louis Sullivan’s Chicago.
On the leisure and culture front, Co-op Live, despite being the UK’s largest-capacity indoor arena, presents a sense of intimacy, while Carmody Groarke’s Power Hall for the Science Museum invokes the architectural spirit of the building’s original Grade I-listed warehouse.
In another inspired reuse of old industrial infrastructure, Jon Matthews Architects and AEW have designed a series of two-storey living units for a homeless charity that shelter under the arches of a railway viaduct.
These projects exemplify the rapid change that Manchester is currently undergoing. However, alongside a noticeable absence of community-led development, what is also clear is that it is schemes that stay rooted in the city’s urban and industrial heritage that are providing the most inspiring models for successful regeneration.
Moho by BTP Architects
Photography: Neil Alexander Downie
This scheme comprises the full façade remediation of the Moho building, a 102-unit modular apartment block in Castlefield in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. BTP Architects replaced combustible timber cladding with non-combustible aluminium to comply with revised fire safety standards, as well as upgrading soffits, windows and corroded steel walkway structures.
Further improvements include new render, waterproofing and remediated service risers. A phased reoccupation was undertaken to ensure minimal disruption alongside residents’ safety.
Originally designed by shedkm for Urban Splash in 2004-5, the block is made up of prefabricated ‘living pods’ with clip-on components (balconies, dining pods and additional bedrooms) constructed off-site. Moho – short for ‘modular housing’ – was shedkm’s first such project.
Location Ellesmere Street, Manchester M15 | Start on site July 2023 | Completion March 2025 | Client Moho Management Company | Construction cost £12 million
Power Hall, Science and Industry Museum, by Carmody Groarke
Photography: Federico Farinatti
This revitalisation of the Grade II-listed Power Hall (now renamed the Andrew Law Gallery) returns the Science and Industry Museum’s biggest single-space gallery to its original dimensions, reinstating a 108m-long hall spanned by timber roof trusses that divide the space into two parallel bays. It is the second project that the practice has delivered for the museum following 2021’s Special Exhibitions Gallery.
Other interventions include a new visitor circulation route with improved accessibility and legibility, improvements to the existing fabric and upgrades to the façades, revealing views of the collection from outside.
The city-centre museum, part of the London-based Science Museum Group, has occupied the Grade I-listed warehouse and former railway station since 1983. Once a shed for the world’s oldest surviving inter-city steam-powered passenger railway, the Power Hall houses a collection of working steam, gas turbine and electric engines.
The refurbishment, which was completed late last year, also includes an exhibition designed by Studio MUTT using light as a curatorial device, which brings a human scale to the large building.
Location Liverpool Road, Manchester M3 | Start on site 2021 | Completion October 2025 | Client Science and Industry Museum, Science Museum Group | Construction cost Undisclosed
One Port Street by SimpsonHaugh
Photography: Select Property
This development is located on the fringe of Manchester city centre, close to the Northern Quarter, Ancoats Urban Village and New Islington.
It comprises a 100m-tall, 33-storey tower and a podium building that steps up in height from seven to nine to 11 storeys. The scheme consists of 481 one, two and three-bedroom apartments with ancillary facilities including a swimming pool and gym, as well as ground-floor retail space and a basement car park.
The tower’s façade is formed of unitised curtain wall panels, which are flat to the north and east, lending it a Seagram-esque vibe, while to the south and west projecting fins provide shade and add texture. The podium façade combines red brick and aluminium in colours intended to respond to the traditional brick and terracotta of the area.
Location Port Street, Manchester M1 | Start on site January 2023 | Completion February 2026 | Client Select Property Group | Construction cost £154 million
Embassy Village by Jon Matthews Architects and AEW Architects
Render: Jon Matthews Architects, photography: AEW Architects
This 40-home ‘village’ for homeless men is built from repurposed shipping containers. Designed pro bono by Jon Matthews Architects and delivered by AEW Architects, the modular community has just completed, with tenants moving in this month. It sits beneath railway arches between the Bridgewater Canal and River Irwell in the city centre.
The project is for the Manchester-based Embassy charity, which started by refitting a luxury tour bus to provide emergency shelter for vulnerable adults. Construction was supported by developer Capital & Centric, the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity and the site’s owner, property group Peel L&P.
The scheme was billed as the UK’s first Housing First project when it was initially designed in 2021. The concept, well-established in Scandinavian countries, aims to provide safe, secure homes for people who are homeless or at the risk of becoming homeless.
As well as the homes, the development includes a village hall, communal outdoor space, a multi-use sports area and space to grow vegetables.
Location Near St George’s Island, Castlefield, Manchester M15 | Start on site 2022 | Completion February 2026 | Client Embassy | Construction cost Undisclosed
Co-op Live by Populous
Photography: Pantling Studio
Winner of a 2025 AJ Architecture Award in the Leisure category, Manchester’s Co-op Live is the UK’s largest-capacity indoor arena.
The nearly 60,000m², fully electric venue combines innovative audio-visual technology, high-performance acoustics and Populous’s classic stacked three-tier bowl design to create the scale needed for international acts, as well as more intimate experiences.
Through optimised sightlines, the compact configuration ensures that no seat is more than 95m from the stage, placing visitors up to 23m closer than any comparable venue in Europe. The 23,500-capacity arena also features the largest standing floor in the UK, accommodating up to 9,200 people. There are no corporate branding or ribbon screens in the seating area, creating a ‘black box’ effect. Other spaces include 41 bars, restaurants, lounges and two clubs.
To the south side, a ground-floor atrium opens to a canalside piece of public realm whose landscape design incorporates a prominent ring of trees and a 400m-tall green wall. The podium also features a tiered timber terrace.
The venue, which opened in 2024, has hosted major acts including Elbow, Liam Gallagher, The Killers, Take That, and Olivia Rodrigo.
Location Etihad Campus, 1 Sportcity Way, Manchester M11 | Start on site May 2021 | Completion May 2025 | Client Oak View Group | Construction cost Undisclosed
No 1 St Michael’s by Hodder + Partners
Photography: Peter Cook
This first phase of a £300 million mixed-use development sits on the site of a former police station and synagogue between Jackson’s Row and Bootle Street, adjacent to Manchester’s Civic Quarter.
Developed by former footballer Gary Neville’s Relentless Group, Phase 1 has completed and consists of a mid-rise office building, comprising 16,700m² of workspace and a 2,300m² food and beverage retail unit.
A new public square sits at the heart of the scheme, created around the retained Sir Ralph Abercromby pub.
The second phase, No 2 St Michael’s, will include a 43-storey tower containing a hotel, apartments and rooftop restaurant. It will also incorporate a new synagogue. It is expected to be completed in 2027.
Location Southmill Street, Manchester M2 | Start on site January 2022 | Completion February 2025 | Client Relentless Developments, KKR | Construction cost £60 million
House of Social by Tim Groom Architects
Photography: Jan Chlebik, Piotr Pelczar/Vita Group
Situated with easy access to Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Manchester, the House of Social is a 576-bedroom student accommodation block. Rooms are arranged in four and six-bedroom apartments, alongside communal and social facilities, including co-study areas and a fitness suite.
A lofty 6.9m-high, 1,100m² public food hall sits on the ground floor, which opens directly onto the street and features five independent kitchens, all designed to draw in local residents and the wider community.
At 14 storeys tall, the building’s scale mediates between newer commercial developments to the west and older heritage buildings to the east. Its form makes reference to Manchester’s industrial mill buildings with its solid massing and use of red brick.
The façades’ restrained hierarchy – large arched base, simple grid and strong vertical piers above and more elaborate ‘crown’ on top – brings a touch of Louis Sullivan’s Chicago to Manchester.
Location 10 Sir Howard Bernstein Approach, Manchester M15 | Start on site August 2023 | Completion August 2025 | Client Select Property | Construction cost £60 million