BCO tour Manchester’s ‘Greenest’ scheme

Town Centre Securities hosted a technical tour for the British Council for Offices (BCO) at their award winning Piccadilly Basin regeneration development this week. Around 40 guests were taken on a tour of the two office elements of the award winning mixed-use scheme; the exemplar BDP Architects, Engineers and Designers Northern Headquarters building and the restored Carver’s Warehouse.

Piccadilly Basin has received several notable awards for both office elements of the unique waterside development and has been widely acclaimed for the commitment to sustainability employed in the development of the BDP Studio and Carvers Warehouse. The architecturally impressive 5 storey BDP building, which cantilevers over the canal, was the first naturally ventilated commercial building in Manchester to achieve a BREEAM rating of Excellent for environmental sustainability and is also home to the city centre’s first ‘living roof’. It was designed by BDP for their Manchester team who moved in last year.

The restoration of Carver’s Warehouse, which is Manchester’s oldest surviving stone warehouse, was also completed last year. With sustainability at the forefront of the development agenda, the 200 year old, listed building has been sensitively transformed into a high quality 5 storey office building which retains virtually all of its original characteristics. Tenants include; Martin Stockley Associates, Marketing Manchester, creative agency four 23, coffee shop and deli An Outlet, the Piccadilly Partnership and global denim brand G-Star Raw with one floor of around 3,700sq ft now available for occupancy.

Property Director for Town Centre Securities, Richard Lewis, said; “With both of our latest office buildings at Piccadilly Basin now complete and fully operational, the BCO thought it was an opportune time to invite their members to come and have a tour. We feel that it is important to demonstrate how ‘green’ buildings function on a day to day basis in order for people to gain an understanding of how sustainable features can be incorporated into the working environments of both new builds such as the BDP Studio and also within the restoration of a historic building.”