NEW BAILEY MASTERPLAN

AHR WAS COMMISSIONED BY ENGLISH CITIES FUND (ECF) IN 2014 TO DEVELOP THE NEW BAILEY ZONE A/C MASTERPLAN AS PART OF THE LOCAL AUTHORITY'S WIDER REGENERATION PROJECT FOR SALFORD CENTRAL ALONGSIDE THE PHASE 1 RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MASTERPLAN WILL PROVIDE AN ATTRACTIVE RIVERSIDE RESIDENTIAL ENVIRONMENT.

This development, alongside the wider New Bailey area and other proposals nearby, will fundamentally change the area from temporary, low rent parking lots to a permanent, vibrant piece of the city centre.

The New Bailey Masterplan has been developed over time to enable trusted products to be specified for their quality and durability for the rental sector. Another key aim of this masterplan was to meet the demanding requirements of the PRS market. We utilised standard typologies for apartments specifically for the PRS model and determined closed layouts (traditional with hall) or open plan layouts early on in the process. These key decisions enabled an efficient design which can be carried through to construction. Consistency of bedroom sizes (and provision of bathrooms) for people sharing an apartment were also a key requirement of the PRS model.

The eight block proposal seeks to re-stitch the site back into the urban grain, creating connections to surrounding, existing and future developments such as Middlewood Locks, New Bailey Zone B and also Manchester’s St John’s Masterplan on the opposite side of the Irwell.

The masterplan forges new urban linkages. The Irwell River Park and towpath are connected to the site via a new riverside 'Pocket Park' and landscaped courtyards. Stanley Street forms the development spine, linking across Irwell Street to the New Bailey Zone B commercial development and Salford Central train station beyond, as well as into Manchester City Centre to the south. To the north, Stanley Street leads onto a new pedestrian crossing bridging the busy Trinity Way and connecting to the emerging Middlewood Locks development.

We established local authority requirements in terms of design and space standards, this being key to ensuring a smooth planning process. Formulating the right size and mix of apartments, tested with both the agents and local authority early on, has been paramount to enabling an efficiently planned design.

To achieve deliverable and high quality design in the local rental market the first phases have been designed to be highly efficient. Compact regularised plans allow the available budget to be concentrated on high quality materials. A modular façade solution was developed on a 600mm horizontal grid which allowed us to develop a number of standardised façade components.

The apartment plans were carefully developed to maximise their depth to width ratio whilst maintaining desirable room widths, this allowed a lower external wall to floor ratio, further increasing efficiency.