Spinningfields

 Spinningfields
Manchester, UK
2003 - 2007
Forming part of the Spinningfields masterplan to regenerate a 12-hectare site in central Manchester, the office
buildings at 3 and 4 Hardman Square are a milestone in the area’s emergence as the city’s new business district.
The project involved the creation of an important new public space – Hardman Square – which is bounded by four
commercial buildings, lined with cafes, bars and shops, and forms the social heart of the wider scheme. The
square opens up new pedestrian routes through the city and provides a valuable new open air venue for events,
markets and celebrations.
The two office buildings are characterised by a high degree of flexibility. 3 Hardman Square can accommodate up
to sixteen different tenants, two per column-free floor. It has been designed without the need for corridors around
the core and, to increase future flexibility, it offers two potential lobbies. As the office floors are occupied by a
single tenant, the second lobby has become a restaurant. However, the adaptability of the design is such that at
any point, changes can be made to this arrangement without major structural interventions. In addition, high
ceilings in all ground floor areas allow mezzanine levels to be created in the future as required. 4 Hardman Square
was originally conceived by the developer as a screen to hide the loading dock for the adjacent Crown Court.
Exceeding the brief, the building spans the existing structure and provides an additional 58,000 square metres of
high quality office and retail space, completing the northern side of the plaza and providing space for up to ten
different tenants. Again, all of the office space is column-free, yet the floor plate is deliberately smaller than that in
3 Hardman Square to widen the market offer and attract a greater diversity of businesses to Spinningfields.
The glass and steel façade of 3 and 4 Hardman Square is based on an innovative ‘kit of parts’ system. Visually
the approach unifies the scheme and defines the plaza, but underlying this is a hard-working system designed to
meet the specific demands of each building’s orientation, tenant and regulations. It includes an insulated glass
panel with state-of-the-art vacuum insulation technology and a unique vision panel at floor level, which allows
views from the offices to the activity of the plaza below.
Location: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=53.479904,-2.252245
Area: 21,866 m²