The green light has been given to a new ‘urban oasis’ in Manchester city centre.
Plans have been approved to transform Lowry House into a range of new flexible workspaces, with a cascading interior garden taking centre stage and biophilia used throughout to bring greenery into the space.
The Bruntwood Works scheme will also see the creation of a new independent café on the ground floor, as well as a coworking area, lounge space, private workspace and phone booths.
Bleacher seating will be installed to create a new auditorium event space for up to 50 people.
The refurbishment will increase the number of flexible workspace desks by more than a third by adding 200 new desks, while additional meeting rooms and event space will be created that can be booked by the public.
The basement will also be transformed with sleep pods, a quiet study area, cinema room, fitness studio complemented by shower and changing facilities, and space to host pop-up shops and amenity.
Andrew Cooke, regional director at Bruntwood Works, said: “We’re thrilled to have had our plans for Lowry House approved and are looking forward to getting started with the transformation.
"Each of our Pioneer buildings have their own personality and with Lowry House we wanted to bring the outdoors in to help boost creativity and give our customers a truly uplifting work environment.”
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Lowry House’s green credentials will be boosted by a smart building management system being embedded into its redesign to monitor the building’s carbon footprint and consumption to help support energy efficiency, features that all Pioneer buildings will have.
Reverse vending machines that offer rewards to encourage recycling are also being incorporated into the building layout.
This will support Bruntwood’s recent pledge to the Green Building Council’s Net Zero Carbon Commitment to make new buildings net zero carbon emitting by 2030 and old buildings the same by 2050.
Andrew added: “We’re passionate about being a part of, and facilitating, our customers’ journeys and helping them to continuously evolve and grow. The additional workspaces at Lowry House will give businesses more options to flex their space as they grow, meaning they adapt the place in which they work to exactly what they need.
“Additionally, the new shared spaces encourage a real sense of community and promote collaborative working between like-minded businesses and individuals which, ultimately fuels growth and creates a thriving economy.”
Work on the 16-storey building is set to begin next month.
The Lowry House transformation has been designed by architect Russell Bridge and Paul Butler Associates supported with the planning application.