ANCOATS URBAN VILLAGE!(a comprehensive guide!)

[GShutty]

Excellent news, along with Jactin House. Hopefully this will give impetus for the developers of Murray's Mill to kick-start their redevelopment.

[GShutty]

Jactin House, plus unsightly car park as is (sorry, slightly crap camera phone pics). Also there was plenty of wwork going on in St Peter's chucrh whilst i was down there. I still hold really high hopes ofr the revival of Ancoats. It will probably be another ten years thougfh before it really takes off:

[Cherguevara]

I'd like to see a lot of blocks like the townhouse one proposed for St George's built in the New Cross area. There are a lot of empty/underutilised plots of around the right size that could be very nice family housing.

[Slow Burn]

Yeah I've also got high hopes for Ancoats village. I'd like to live there one day in a cool mill conversion (if what I have in mind exists there) but the area has nowhere near the kind of amenities I'm used to in west dids. Pity most of the new builds around there are atrocious (see GShuttys pics if Bengal St apartments) but good news that more mills will getting converted.

[GShutty]

Originally Posted by Slow Burn

Yeah I've also got high hopes for Ancoats village. I'd like to live there one day in a cool mill conversion (if what I have in mind exists there) but the area has nowhere near the kind of amenities I'm used to in west dids.

The NQ & Piccadilly have improved a lot, so you wouldn't be so bad, but in West Dids/Withington (I moved from the other way from NQ to Withy a few years ago) it's gteat to have the 'villages' on the doorstep and the city centre is there when you need it, or after work if you wrok in the centre.

But yeah, there are a few more independent delis and coffee shops now in the NQ/Picc than there were back when 'Love Saves the Day' ruled the roost.

[nq]

Not that exciting, but nice to get a look inside.

[VDB]

Not sure but I don't think we've seen this one?

100991/FO/2012/N2 | Erection of 2 no. 8 storey blocks to form 145 residential apartments with associated access, car parking and landscaping and erection of A1 Retail Unit (316sqm) with associated car parking, servicing, access and landscaping. | Milliners Wharf Phase 2 Munday Street Off Pollard Street Manchester M4 7BD

http://pa.manchester.gov.uk/online-a...=MDSHWLBC6K000

Application pending consideration for Milliners Wharf Phase 2, pdf design access statement here

Snippets;

[IMG]http://i48.************/2hzmjqe.jpg[/IMG]

lol, green tram!?

[IMG]http://i48.************/2zdnlg9.jpg[/IMG]



To be built at Munday Street just off Pollard St in New Islington. Should sit well with the new tram line

[Cherguevara]

I don't like the street level garages. It seems a little unsafe not to have overlooked pavement in an area like Ancoats.

[LongRipple]

Originally Posted by Cherguevara

I don't like the street level garages. It seems a little unsafe not to have overlooked pavement in an area like Ancoats.

I know people who live in the Angel Meadow/Meadow View Apartments near the new Co-op headquarters and these were built with undercroft carparking and refuse areas- they are a magnet for drug taking and rough sleepers. Major design flaw in an urbanised area!

[Slow Burn]

F*ck me, what is it with architects today?!!! I know jack shit about desiging a building but I know a thing or 2 about city living ie through living in a city to clearly see that that design is a load of bollocks! Who the f*ck are these people?!

[monkey_rat]

Utter shite just like phase one.

[elst]

http://www.royalmills.net/RoyalMills...0Animation.pdf

Anyone know anything about this? Some great ideas for Ancoats contained within

[AJD1984]

Originally Posted by elst

http://www.royalmills.net/RoyalMills...0Animation.pdf

Anyone know anything about this? Some great ideas for Ancoats contained within

First of all welcome elst.

Also thats a very interesting read and I'd be open to some of those proposals coming to light. Rather like the wool/woven aspect on the alleys and streets and the new wayfinding identity (rather like the NQ). Manchester's wayfinding isn't the best (infact its rather dire) so be good to get the ball rolling again with this one.

Andrew

[Farsight]

Originally Posted by Cherguevara

I don't like the street level garages. It seems a little unsafe not to have overlooked pavement in an area like Ancoats.

Originally Posted by LongRipple

I know people who live in the Angel Meadow/Meadow View Apartments near the new Co-op headquarters and these were built with undercroft carparking and refuse areas- they are a magnet for drug taking and rough sleepers. Major design flaw in an urbanised area!

Originally Posted by Slow Burn

F*ck me, what is it with architects today?!!! I know jack shit about desiging a building but I know a thing or 2 about city living ie through living in a city to clearly see that that design is a load of bollocks! Who the f*ck are these people?!

Well said guys. This is yet another greedy midrise plotfiller, one that doesn't even allow for pavements!? FFS!

[GShutty]

Originally Posted by elst

http://www.royalmills.net/RoyalMills...0Animation.pdf

Anyone know anything about this? Some great ideas for Ancoats contained within

Welcome Elst. Can anybody copy&paste the article as it won't open for me. Thanks

[loweskid]

Originally Posted by GShutty

Welcome Elst. Can anybody copy&paste the article as it won't open for me. Thanks

It's 90 pages long.....

[retroscient]

Originally Posted by GShutty

Welcome Elst. Can anybody copy&paste the article as it won't open for me. Thanks

This document is a menu of ideas and options to animate Ancoats and whilst not all of the suggestions will necessarily be develooped the overarching view is that implementing as many of them as possible will greatly benefit the area.

the current programme to animate the Ancoats Urban Village has a number of aims:
• Increasing foot traffic in the area by focussing public art initiatives at key strategic locations
• Allowing for a continuous programme of events to publicise the area and increase awareness
• Making use of the many empty buildings and spaces until they become occupied
• Promoting other available space for business opportunities
• Improving legibility, way finding and accessibility
• Improving connectivity and linkages with surrounding areas
• Capitalising on the areas strong sense of identity

The rest of it is page-by-page proposals for stuff like new gardens, public art installations, new street name signs (with a unique Ancoats design) to replace the existing set in the same way that the NQ has those unique blue street name tiles, new murals of modern businesses to complement the historic ones, additional peep holes, more events, etc.

Quite good stuff. I work with a volunteer group in Ancoats. I'll have to forward this around and see if we can contribute to getting any of these ideas off the ground.

[GShutty]

Thanks Retroscient! I noticed that a lot of the signs have already been upgraded to something along the lines of a brushed steel plate for the plaque, with bold black font for the street names.

Good to hear you're at the sharp end to volunteering. I guess as with any area Ancoats needs something of a hub; coffee shop/bar, perhaps there could be one in St Peter's church once the Philharmonic have set up there. Perhaps not ideal, but whilst the area is quiet, such a venture would benefit fromthe co-efficeint support of an established organisation.

If something such as this could anchor the area you would like to think that others will follow.

[LongRipple]

Originally Posted by GShutty

Welcome Elst. Can anybody copy&paste the article as it won't open for me. Thanks

It’s a PDF that should load direct if you’ve got Adobe Reader X installed.

There are some great ideas contained within the document. I wish the consultation had been advertised to a wider city centre populace as I reckon many of the ideas are transferable.

The “Roaming Gardens of Ancoats” particularly are something that could be applied across the city; these could be funded privately in the way suburban roundabouts carry advertisements or “Britain in Bloom” is heavily supported by local businesses. The Cityco/BDP Architects/gardencityproject which has landscaped spaces such as Albert Bridge Garden and Church Street Carpark is one method of "greening" the city but long term both those sites need major redevelopment of their inherent flaws. As such, creating moveable garden solutions would be more cost effective to merely landscaped stagnation.

I also like the notion of creating “doorstep” features that immediately announce that you have arrived in Ancoats. This too could be applied across the city to define these numerous “Quarters” so favoured by the city council. Each quarter could be assigned a specific colour that might be incorporated into the paving or street lighting around the boundaries of each area. It would be useful for tourists and visitors to the city.

This defining of areas was something I suggested a few months back which I’d hoped would be applied to the NOMA Estate to differentiate it from the rest of the city. Unfortunately the Mecanoo plaza misses the opportunity to incorporate a singular design; seemingly using many standard MCC landscaping features such the stainless steel planters & wooden benches used elsewhere in the city and a weird mix of black wrought ironwork and steelwork; this, to my mind, hasn’t really helped create the unique space proposed within the NOMA rhetoric. Imagine the blue LED lighting of the No.1 Angel Square Building incorporated into the pavements that form the boundaries of the estate.

It’s great that people like Retroscient are involved in this important area and hopefully their voices can help defend the area from the poor recent architectural additions to Ancoats such as Bengal Apartments, Ice Plant Apartments extension and the MBLA Architects Building which to my mind have exploited the demise of the ABPT and HeritageWorks and threatens the potential of the wider estate.

[Ancoats Chris]

Hi all. Just moved to Ancoats recently and been attracted to the area because of its potential and proximity to the city centre. I have watched aghast from my living room window of the monstrosity that has risen on Bengal Street!! In the same view I have the stunning tower of St Peters Church. How can MCC allow such rubbish? However, it was because of this that I found this forum! Anyway I would really like to post some pics but cannot get my head round how its done! Can anyone please help? Thanks