Creating a thriving residential community in Manchester

We delivered the detailed design work for Cotton Field Wharf, a development of 302 one, two- and three-bedroom rental apartments with landscaped surroundings and interconnecting terraces.

Residents’ amenities include a clubroom, gym and fitness studio, 128 parking spaces, secure cycle storage. Three commercial units with the development along the marina-side public walkway are now home to Cask, Pollen and Northern Eudaimonia.

Cotton Field Wharf was Manchester Life’s first Phase One development to complete as part of its programme to enable the regeneration and growth of Ancoats and New Islington into a thriving residential community on the Eastern edge of Manchester City centre.

We acted for Manchester Life’s contractor on the project, John Sisk & Son. Our geo-environmental and geotechnical teams delivered the ground engineering design, remediation strategy and materials management plan to inform the earthworks, foundation and pavement design, and our structural and civil engineering team provided the detailed design to enable the construction.

With design undertaken in a BIM environment, our structural engineers used a reinforced concrete structural frame, designed as flat slabs with blade columns, to minimise floor thickness and maximise the size of the apartments.

Designed by architects, Callison RTKL, Cotton Field Wharf set a new standard for build-to-rent residential communities in Manchester, with Manchester Life providing high-quality on-site facilities and amenities. The building has enjoyed consistently high occupancy since opening in October 2017.