Deansgate Square

Deansgate Square

Bounded by the Mancunian Way, Owen Street and the River Medlock, Deansgate square is located right in the heart of Manchester City Centre. The project is being developed by Renaker Build, designed by SimpsonHough and Partners, and energised by Electricity North West. Previously only used as an outdoor carpark for years, the scheme has regenerated the 2.7 acre area of Manchester city centre.

Standing at 67 storeys and 200m high, the tallest building is the second highest residential tower in the UK whilst the other three buildings stand at 53, 47 and 40 storeys high, delivering a total of 1,500 apartments. The scheme provides resident only leisure facilities such as a tennis court, swimming pool, cinema, gym, dance studio and rooftop garden. The public also benefits from cafés and restaurants and new pedestrian walkways at the base of each tower, bringing a sense of community to the revived area. Andrew, Head of Sales at Renaker explains:  "It is about giving people everything you would expect from a five-star hotel but within their own apartment building."

Having collaborated on successful projects in the past, Renaker approached Electricity North West to install six new substations at the base of the towers to provide electricity to all four properties.

During the off-site excavation work, we liaised closely with Manchester City Council to ensure it didn’t impact their major resurfacing project on Oxford Road which was due to commence on 4 January 2018. Our connections teams pulled in extra resources and worked evenings and weekends to lay 2.2km of cable that crossed through Oxford Road prior to resurfacing. Carrying out the excavation work during quieter traffic times helped to minimise the impact to drivers and local residents. In addition, it allowed us to complete the job in only two weeks, rather than eight, to ensure we met Renaker’s power on date.

Once the off-site work and cable lay were complete, the substations were installed; a 6MVA supply via two 6.6KV feeders from Ardwick primary substation.

Roy Smith, Renaker’s dedicated Project Manager and point of contact at Electricity North West said: “The Deansgate Square project has gone superb so far. We’ve just done the energisation on the third and fourth tower, and we’ve had no issues on site; everything has been on track, on budget and we’ve met all our target dates. Renaker are one of the best companies I’ve ever worked with and I look forward to seeing the completion of the next phases of the development this year”.

As of March 2020, the West Tower is complete and occupied, the South and East Towers are complete and soon to be occupied, and the North Tower has topped out and due for completion this year.