The landscape treatments at Universal House have been key to the building's transformation and revived commercial success. The reprogramming and refurbishment of the once starkly unattractive 1960s office block in inner-city Manchester has given the four-winged, 280,000 sq ft building a new, commercially sustainable character, and encouraged further local urban regeneration.
The courtyard was designed to suggest that slivers of Peak District landscape had been imported into central Manchester. Strips of native Scots pine and bracken appear to float in the courtyard, and are edged with long seat walls; a water feature sits just outside the cafe and pulls the reflected sky down into its space.
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Type
Landscapes
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Sector
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Location
Manchester, UK
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Description
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Client
Frogmore Northern
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Size
24,000 sqm
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Cost
£7m
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Team
John McAslan + Partners, Architect and Landscape Architect
Walker Sime, Cost Consultant
King Associates, MEP Engineer -
Status
Completed 2008
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