October 15 2004

Urban Splash has announced the shortlist for the New Islington architect and developer competition, to design and develop a 6,750 m2 plot at the 29-acre Millennium Community, East Manchester.

The shortlisted teams are: Angel Property with Spacecraft Architects; Igloo Regeneration Partnership/Aviva with de Rijke Marsh Morgan Architects; Grosvenor Investments Ltd with Squire and Partners Architects; Oregen (R-Gen/Nikal) with Mecanoo Architects; Taylor Woodrow Developments Ltd with shedkm Architects; London and Newcastle with Hawkins Brown Architects and City Lofts Group plc with Conran and Partners Architects.

Christophe Egret of Alsop Architects, who designed the strategic framework for New Islington, was pleased with the shortlist. “I think it has the right balance of inventive, energetic up-and-coming young practices like shedKM and dRMM, and more established practices. The key issue for the Millennium village will be to push the boundaries of what a residential development should be.”

The seven teams will make formal presentations to Urban Splash and its partners at New Islington, and a winner should be announced on 11 November. The judges are Tom Bloxham and Nick Johnson of Urban Splash, Clive Wilding and David Chiltern of English Partnerships, Lyn Fenton of Ancoats Urban Village Company, Tom Russell, chief executive of New East Manchester Ltd and Matthew Harrison of Manchester Methodist Housing Group.

Work has already started on the strategic framework. The first part of the new waterway, which will link the Ashton and Rochdale Canals, is now complete and planning permission has been received for the first phase of new buildings designed by Alsop Architects and Ian Simpson Architects and the public realm designed by Grant Associates.“The site has to be one of the best in Manchester – surrounded by water on three sides with Ancoats Urban Village on one side and New Islington on the other, it will benefit from all the infrastructure works English Partnerships are putting in,” said Nick Johnson.

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