New 22-storey tower providing 310 aparthotel accommodation units in central Manchester
The site is located in a very busy area of Manchester and is surrounded by severe site constraints, including a listed railway brick arch viaduct, a retained adjacent pub building and existing roads bordering the site. The site constraints significantly influenced the massing and structural design of the building, with the most prominent feature being the cantilever of the building above Level 4 overhanging the TfGM tram viaduct.
In the early design stages, Eckersley O’Callaghan provided several structural design and materiality options, taking into consideration the material quantities and practical construction considerations given the challenging construction programme and budget constraints from the client. From the very early optioneering studies, EOC has also been closely tracking the structural embodied carbon values through the design development using our proprietary EOC ECO2 tool.
The structure is a hybrid with reinforced core and composite steel floors, which benefits the scheme due to it’s fast and lightweight construction. The 18-storey cantilever, formed in Vierendeel frames, overhangs an existing live railway viaduct. This structural solution allowed to have an unobstructed view from all the bedrooms as opposed to the diagonal hangers solution. Floor ties have been provided between level 05-22 to transfer the lateral forces back to the reinforced concrete core.
The proposed foundation is formed in piled raft with piles socketed into weak rock and resisting uplift induced by the overturning moment on the eccentric RC core.
Further marginal gains were achieved by exploring alternative column grids that would align with the architectural layouts. As a result of this optimisation exercise, overall steel tonnages and embodied carbon values were further reduced.
© Eckersley O’Callaghan 2025
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