The hotel comprises 357 rooms, as well as other guest facilities, such as guest laundry, an exercise room, storage facilities, and internal and external cycle spaces. The design proposals incorporate a commercial space within the existing arches, and opening onto a new public realm facing Whitworth Street West.
The site is located in Manchester City Centre covering approximately 0.25 ha, in an area long identified by Manchester City Council as a key regeneration site. The scheme is ideally located, with close proximity to commercial hubs and numerous transport interchanges, such as Deansgate-Castlefield Metrolink Station and Deansgate Train Station.
The building’s form is uniquely divided into four segments, responding to the street level, the viaduct level, a lower internal layer, and an upper internal layout. The elevation expression varies across the facades, presenting the exploration of themes of heaviness and transparency. The proposed tower will cantilever 4 metres over the Deansgate Viaduct, maximising its views towards the city.
The material strategy has been developed to respond to the site’s microclimate, built local context, building orientation and site constraints. Three complementary treatments with tonal variations harmonise with the surrounding context, contributing to the character of the building.
Prominently visible along the Deansgate vista from the city centre, the north facing façade has been designed with a textured and animated aesthetic. Vertical extruded strips have been developed with a unique zig-zag form that alternate in extrusion and inversion, and which accentuate and emphasises shadow and tone. This concept was derived from the historic lattice ironwork prevalent in the Castlefield area, and this feature, rendered in a dark grey tone, echoes the podium of the nearby Beetham Tower it faces.
The East and West facing elevations showcase a robust grid geometry formed by terracotta panels, which depict two contrasting contextual tones. The upper panelling is made up of light off white terracotta tiles, whereas the lower podium utilises red brick cladding, ensuring a strong relationship between the building and the existing streetscape and colour tones found along Deansgate and the Great Northern Terrace.