Owen Street, Manchester

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Owen Street is a skyscraper cluster development currently under construction on the southern edge of Manchester City Centre. The site is just south of Deansgate railway station and north of the Mancunian Way, bounded by Old Deansgate, Pond Street, Owen Street and the River Medlock. Manchester City Council adopted a framework in the early 2000s which earmarked the site as an acceptable location for high-rise buildings.

In 2016, the scheme was revived with a planning application for a cluster of four skyscrapers -- the tallest being Tower 1 at 201 metres (659 feet), which will surpass the 169-metre Beetham Tower as the tallest building in Manchester and become the 5th tallest building in the United Kingdom when built.

Construction on the tower complex officially began in July 2016 with developer Renaker beginning construction on Towers 1 and 4. Construction commenced on Tower 3 in October 2017. Construction on the final Tower (No. 2) is expected to start in 2018/19.

Video Owen Street, Manchester

History

2007 original scheme

The 2007 scheme consisted of five high-rise buildings containing nearly 1,100 residential units, 100 serviced apartments, a hotel, parking, office and retail space, and community facilities. The tallest skyscraper planned was "Block D", which would have been 49 storeys -- two storeys more than Manchester's tallest building, Beetham Tower -- and 150 metres (492 ft) high.

A planning application was submitted to Manchester City Council in 2007 and was approved early in 2008. Permission to extend the time limit for building on the site was sought from the Council in early 2011, a request which was granted in September 2011.

2016 revived scheme

The revised scheme, proposed by developers Renaker Build and designed by SimpsonHaugh and Partners, was made public in January 2016 with a planning application to seek permission for the construction of four skyscrapers submitted in April.

The proposed towers range from 122 to 200 metres high - Tower 1 is 64 storeys and 200.5 metres tall, Tower 2 is 50 floors and 157.9 metres tall, Tower 3 is 37 storeys and 122 metres tall and Tower 4 is 44 floors and 140.4 metres tall.

The scheme was approved by Manchester City Council on 30 June 2016.

Construction

Construction on the tower complex officially began in July 2016 with developer Renaker starting construction on towers 1 and 4. Piling works on Tower 4 were complete by November 2016 with tower cranes erected soon after.

By August 2017, the core for Tower 4 had risen to level 16 - representing just over third of the total height with a further 28 levels remaining. Work on fixing the unitised glazing panels which will form a checker board pattern had also begun on the Tower. The core for Tower 1 - the tallest tower of the approved scheme at 201 metres - had risen to level 13 with a further 51 levels still to go.

In October 2017, construction on the core for Tower 2 commenced.