Dec 10, 2020

Construction starts on Mayfield, Manchester

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The first phase of works includes our 6.5-acre public park, which will become the first public park to be created in the city for 100 years.

Mayfield is our £1.4bn mixed-use framework plan in Manchester, restoring life into to an abandoned site and former station depot building, and establishing a new neighbourhood comprising 1,500 homes, 1.6m sq ft of workspace and retail, leisure and hotel space. The first phase of development includes the new park - 'Mayfield Park - as well as 319,900 sq ft of commercial space and a multi-storey car park. The framework designs capitalise on the site’s existing assets – the vast Mayfield depot, railway arches and the River Medlock – to create an environment for work, play and living.

Earlier this year, the Government pledged to provide £23m from its Getting Building Fund to Mayfield Park as part of its strategy to support ‘shovel-ready’ schemes that could spur the UK’s economic recovery following the Covid-19 crisis.

Our role on this major regenerative project includes leading the landscape design for Mayfield Park and surrounding public realm strategy. Here, our ‘nature first’ proposals include opening up the River Medlock, allowing nature to finds its way into the city, creating new riverside habitats and providing a flood plain that can accommodate climate-change scenarios. The planting design of this floodable park is being shaped with the future in mind, pre-empting the likely climate shift of 1-2 degrees, and the hard materials will either be recycled or sourced locally to minimise carbon footprint but maximise local character.

We're also the overall urban designers for Mayfield and architects for the first phase multi-storey car park. The plans are being delivered by the public-private Mayfield Partnership, a joint venture between regeneration specialist U+I, Manchester City Council, Transport for Greater Manchester and developer LCR.

Mayfield Park will inspire a greener future for the city centre and create opportunities for inner city residents to easily access and enjoy the outdoors. The current COVID-19 climate has highlighted how important this is, which makes the project even more momentous. It's also a symbolic project for our studio, where we practice a landscape led approach to urbanism; it's a significant project for everyone involved.”

Duncan Paybody SEW Associate Director and Landscape Urbanist, who is leading our designs for Mayfield Park

Related Place

Mayfield

Manchester, UK