WORLD CLASS LIVING, WORKING & LEISURE

Peelers Yard will bring back to life one of Manchester’s most historic sites.

Since 1820, New Cross has been integral to the growth of the city with industry growing exponentially, and alongside trade and transport innovations, Manchester grew rapidly. By the 1920’s the surrounding area of Rochdale Road had grown to roughly 30,000 in population.

Goulden street station was created in 1870 to protect Ancoats, a notoriously lawless area, and this required something more akin to a fortress. The result is a unique and forceful monumental design. To the street, a high windowless façade has a giant blind arcade topped by a pediment, all in stone.

The thriving economic activity generated by nearby industrial factories and foundries began to diminish due to the decline of the cotton industry in the 1930s. Cotton processing and trading continued to fall after the second world war, leaving many of the mills derelict, and New Cross, as a neighbourhood began to fall into ruin.

In 1992, the building was awarded Grade II listing but suffered severe fire damage in 2002, as a result of its use as a firework store, leaving only the prominent chimney standing within the ruins.

The original chimney has acted as a beacon for the neighbourhood ever since it was built, and the development has been designed to retain its integrity. But the historical beacon is more than just retained, it’s adapted to take a modern form with the addition of a ‘lantern’ to the top of the existing structure. A modern element helping to reinforce the site’s heritage and bringing the structure in line with the area’s regeneration.

The reuse of existing structures at Peeler’s Yard also fits our ethos, to minimise waste and carbon output in development.