The Sharp Project

[man med]

Thaught this should have its own thread...

The Sharp Project is Manchester’s answer to the demand from the creative industries sector to create a new home for digital businesses. This warehouse, once home to Sharp Electronics, has 1/4 million square feet of space which we are going to convert into affordable, easy-in, easy-out space for these businesses.

http://www.thisiseast.com/tag/sharp-project/

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/techno...003853.article

http://www.thesharpproject.co.uk/blog/?p=447

[coughy]

I dont think the Council are very good at promoting this because when I rang them to make enquires about it, nobody within the Council seemed to know of its existance! There is no contact phone number available only an email option - and it would appear no one is picking up the emails as it is now two weeks since I contacted them - oh hang on a minute, maybe he/she is away on holiday! Terrible if you ask me!

[CDX]

Apps related to this:

Sharp Electronics UK Ltd, Thorp Road, Newton Heath, Manchester. M40 5BJ
Planning Application Property Related Information for: 1 Thorp Road Manchester M40 5BJ

Sharp Electronics (uk) Ltd, Thorp Road, Manchester. M40 5BE
Planning Application Property Related Information for: Sharp Electronics (uk) Ltd Thorp Road Manchester M40 5BE

http://www.publicaccess.manchester.g...0-DPP-0001.pdf

[CDX]

The story behind the logo...

Design studio four23 has created a suitably hi-tech gener*ative identity for the centre based on data streams coming to and from the building.

The visual that effectively forms the Project’s logo will never appear the same twice, instead evolving every second to reflect the centre’s activity. Coloured bars represent the input and output of data from the building generated by the Project’s tenants, measured in megabytes, collected from the data transfer logs at the main router. This data is plotted on a graph. Each bar demonstrates a one minute snapshot of data flow. The series of measurements, taken every minute, create an ever-evolving piece of generative art that reflects the activity within the building.

The Sharp Project officially opens in July. “At that point we will bring the identity to life by connecting to the building servers – this will then be represented live on the Sharp web*site and also, as signage on the exterior of the building,” says Warren Bramley, four23’s co-founder and creative director.

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/back...oject-identity

[CDX]

MEN article from July:

An 'Abbey Road' for city's digital centre
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co....digital_centre
July 14, 2009

[CDX]

Originally Posted by CDX

Apps related to this...
Planning Application Property Related Information for: 1 Thorp Road Manchester M40 5BJ

All the recent apps have now been approved, so they can crack on with this. No blog posts/updates to their site in a while so no new info...

I wonder what the phasing timeline is for setting this up?

[markydeedrop]

Knock it down. It would make a great park & ride facility for Metrolink.

[jrb]

How Do.

The Sharp Project commissions Mi to make a film

Wednesday, 18 November 2009

The Sharp Project, a new multi £million digital media production complex in east Manchester, has commissioned the visual effects and animation studio, Mi, to produce a film about the Sharp Project.

The project is planned to be a major new independent hub for creative and digital industries with an emphasis on the specialisms of animation, CGI and visual effects. The project is backed and funded by Manchester City Council and regeneration company, New East Manchester.

The project became a reality following the BBC’s decision to base its new Northern hub in Salford Quays rather than parallel to Oxford Road in central Manchester.

Susan Woodward, chair of the Sharp Project said: “We have been conscious not to market the Sharp Project in a traditional way and Mi’s innovative way of working complements our unconventional approach. We have been aware of their work for some time and are looking forward to collaborating with them on this project.”

Mi’s new commission is also accompanied by news of two new signings at the company : Nick Williams joins as an account director with responsibility for new business development having previously been with 422 and Dinosaur.

Also joining Mi is 3D modelling and animation designer Thomas Morgan.

http://www.wearemi.com/

[CDX]

Hopefully they might issue an update on the project soon...

Might as well post this in here:

[Madchester Guy]

What's that blue thing in the picture?

[highriser]

That is Central Park metrolink station .

[heatonparkincakes]

Size enough for a romantically minded football club to build a Grand ground near the place where their inspiration arose from?

[Griff]

Originally Posted by heatonparkincakes

Size enough for a romantically minded football club to build a Grand ground near the place where their inspiration arose from?

The football club that should have called itself Newton Heath, you mean? (That's what I voted for anyway.)

[CDX]

Channel M are apparently moving to here.

[flange]

Sharp move for NWIX

24th November 2009

NORTH West technology firm NWIX has won the contract to provide Manchester’s new digital content production complex, The Sharp Project, with network connectivity.

The Macclesfield-based firm will provide the 250,000 sq ft building with a high bandwidth, high speed, scalable network.

The Sharp Project aims to become a hub for digital and creative businesses and is based in former warehouse buildings off Oldham Road in Newton Heath, East Manchester, previously used by the electronics company Sharp.

The not-for-profit development is backed and funded by Manchester City Council and regeneration company New East Manchester.

Former Granada boss and now Sharp Project supremo Sue Woodward said: "We chose to work with NWIX because it could provide a solution that worked for the opening phase but which was scalable to provide excellent connectivity as the number of businesses in the centre grows.

"Many businesses within the creative and digital content production sectors are highly complementary to each other – the aim of the Sharp Project is to provide an environment where such an ecosystem can thrive and grow."

John Ridd, chief executive of NWIX added: “NWIX has a network that covers the UK, so the hub is immediately connected into key locations in London as well as to others in Manchester.

"The vision for the future is to connect The Sharp Project to other key sites in the city – enabling both the businesses there and elsewhere around the city to take advantage of the facility and be connected into the broader picture.

“We’re very excited to be a part of the digital future of the city of Manchester and be a part of the work that Manchester City Council and New East Manchester are doing.”

http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/northwest/

[flange]

Sue Woodward, director of The Sharp Project, a 200,000 sq ft workspace for digital content companies in the refurbished Sharp Electronics warehouse off Oldham Road in Newton Heath, east Manchester. Woodward, a former managing director of Granada Television, said: "The three priorities for us are connectivity, affordability and power. We want to bring people who create and monetise digital content together in a place where they want to be. That way we will create a powerful media hub that can rival anywhere in the country or Europe. We have stripped out everything that might put up the cost of developing this place [estimated to be between £15m and £20m by New East Manchester, the urban regeneration company delivering the project on behalf site owner Manchester City Council], because that cost would have to be passed on to our customers. No carpets, there will be rubber floors. No air conditioning, we have comfort-cooling fans instead. Our first phase is 40,000 sq ft in suites of up to 4,000 sq ft priced at £10/sq ft plus service charges and broadband fees. We have several occupiers interested in moving in on completion in January. We will have smaller offices units in a series of former ship containers (pictured below) adapted to have windows and doors fitted. These will be stacked in a large central hall. We had an order for 50 containers but that has been increased to 62 - the maximum capacity for the space - due to demand. One container will cost £45 a week and two pieced together and opened up will be £75 a week.

"There are two former storage floors at the end of the Project of 30,000 sq ft each and we are talking to a content maker about taking one of them for two-and-a-half years at between £8/sq ft and £10/sq ft.

"We have signed a sound engineer for a 4,000 sq ft production studio and he will start fitting out shortly. The Casualty 1909 TV series was filmed in an 18,000 sq ft sound stage here and that will be stripped back ready for use by occupiers. There will be glazed garden area for events at the back of the Project overlooking the new Metrolink line and Central Park.

"There will also be an informal area for eating and drinking and for people who take an annual membership to come in and interact with peers and use the facilities from time to time. There will be a 1GB broadband pipe throughout, thanks to relighting existing fibre optic cables beneath the site.

"It is no good for Manchester us being here alone: it is important that we are merely one stop on a new digital loop around the city taking in Oxford Road, the universities and Media City. We are examining ways of running fibre optic links down the tramlines between the Sharp Project and Media City and round the rest of the city.

"This is a new type of digital content production complex, open 24/7 with links to global partners able to deliver continuous production for international projects."

http://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/496/features.html

[jrb]

Crains.

12:00 a.m., Mon - The Sharp Project, a former warehouse in Manchester's Newton Heath district which is being converted into a media content production hub, is hoping to let 100,000 sq ft in the first quarter of 2010.

Read the full article in WHSmith's in the TC the other day. Couldn't be arsed paying two quid for this weeks poxy issue.(sorry Crains)

My memory is crap, but I seem to remember two companies looking at 50,000 sq ft each, over 2 floors.

If it's true, it's a kick in the teeth for Peel and Mediacity.

[CDX]

That article

Looking Sharp
http://www.crainsmanchesterbusiness.co.uk
12:00 am, December 21, 2009

The Sharp Project, a former warehouse in Manchester's Newton Heath district which is being converted into a media content production hub, is hoping to let 100,000 sq ft in the first quarter of 2010.

Managers of the publicly-funded development are in advanced negotiations with two potential occupiers which would each take 30,000 sq ft on two floors.

Sue Woodward, project director at the Sharp Project, said one of the firms involved in talks would be a “headline occupier” at the 250,000 sq ft building, although she would not say who it was.

“It's a big, well-known firm,” she said. “The fact they are coming effectively means that this project will work. We've had production companies and data centre firms looking at that space. We've got three companies looking at the ground floor and discussions with the top floor occupier are at an advanced stage.”

The Sharp Project, which is owned by Manchester City Council and run by regeneration company New East Manchester, will comprise office space, an 18,000 sq ft sound stage, a 4,000 sq ft CGI studio and a music studio of the same size, and a central “campus” area offering ad-hoc work space. It will have a 24-rack data centre operated by IT Construct, which will also be a tenant.

The scheme will have plenty of room for smaller businesses, however, in the form of metal shipping containers, which can be stacked on top of each other to form work units.

The containers will be fitted out with power points and although no pricing has been formalised yet, a single container could cost around £45 per week with a double container at around £80. The more traditional office space will be pitched at about £10 per sq ft. After business rates of £3 and service charges of around £2.75, occupiers will pay about £15 per sq ft.

Woodward said she expected the split of domestic and international operators to be 50/50 and due to the transient nature of the television industry, she said Sharp would probably never be more than 85 per cent full.

“We tried to drive cost out of the development as much as possible to make the space affordable,” said Woodward. “We won't be using leasing agents and we're fitting rubber flooring instead of carpets, for example. Anything that would have increased the rent has come out.

“We never considered getting a developer partner or making the project a joint venture. We've created a saleable asset for the council and something that hopefully offers good market value for occupiers.

“The campus will be a place for people to hang their hat. It will give people based elsewhere who occasionally come to the city an address and a place to be near the people they work with.”

Woodward insisted the development was “complementary” to, and not in competition with, Peel Group's MediaCityUK. “You can't really compare it to what we're doing,” she said. “We're working together to create more space for the media in Manchester.”

The first phase is set to complete in March with clearance work on the campus area likely to begin in the New Year. Stripping out the remainder of the facility will start in 2010 and although no tenants are officially in the building as yet, a production company is working on de-rigging a studio set used for the filming of Casualty 1908, a BBC TV drama set in a Victorian hospital.

A business solutions unit will also be on site, with the potential for professional services firms from the city to have a presence.

Woodward revealed that the Sharp Project would be structured as an industrial and provident society (IPS), meaning all occupants will take responsibility for its management, possibly through a board that reports directly to the city council.

All surpluses from the building's operation will be reinvested or ploughed into projects such as Sharp Futures, which aims to link up with local academies and colleges to develop training and support for future creative professionals.

“We want all the tenants to be stakeholders in Sharp,” said Woodward. “We need to be strategic to make it sustainable. I don't want to manage it — I'm not a property developer. When this is done, I'll probably go onto the next project, whatever that may be.”

Alex Connock, managing director at Ten Alps, said Manchester's media companies needed investment more than flagship office space.

“I like what MediaCity and Sharp are doing but the most important thing is to secure investment in the industry and the companies in it,” he said.

[Seasonedbest]

Move to construction thread?

Passed it on the train this afternoon and the individual pods/offices are being fitted and glazed in what was the loading bays to the rear of the building. Looks good and much better than what it used to be. SORRY -no pics as the train speeds past there.

New live website - http://www.thesharpproject.co.uk - Interesting look

[flange]

Sharp Project receives £6.3m of funding

17 Mar 2010, 18:33

Michael Hunt

The North West Development Agency and the European Regional Development Fund have invested £6.3m into The Sharp Project, a digital media hub in east Manchester.

The former Sharp European Distribution Centre on Thorp Road will be refurbished into a £16.5m complex which will provide sound stages, office and production space.

New East Manchester, the urban regeneration company, is currently converting the warehouse in Newton Heath. Funding of £3.3m from the NWDA and £3m from ERDF will complete the refurbishment of the building ready for its new use. Completion of works is expected during autumn this year.

Following a visit to the project, Stephen Timms, Minister for Digital Britain, said: "This Government wants to build a world-class digital knowledge economy for the UK and it is projects like Sharp which will make this vision a reality. Through the Digital Economy Bill, we are putting in place the framework to support a digital infrastructure and industry fit for the 21st century. Being digital is vital to growth, jobs and getting on in society and I welcome this investment in the Manchester's digital industry which will bring wide business and economic benefits across the North West."

Steven Broomhead, chief executive of the NWDA, said: "Manchester has long been regarded as the UK's emerging media city, and has developed a global reputation as a creative powerhouse. Retention of this is critical for the future growth of the creative production sector - the Sharp Project is Manchester's response. The Sharp Project will build a critical mass of skills, supply and demand which will strengthen the city's role as the home of creative industries.

"Our intention is to support the establishment of a world class digital and content production centre, complement the development of Media City UK, increase new businesses and contribute to the regeneration of east Manchester."

The funding is in addition to the investment from Manchester City Council in acquiring the building and preparing it for occupiers. The first phase is almost complete and tenants will be moving into a refurbished two-storey office block next month.

The building complex provides approximately 200,000 sq ft of office and production accommodation and is within a short walk of the Central Park transport interchange, which incorporates a Metrolink station, which is due to open in 2011.

Following its completion the digital media hub will offer:

• A total of 15,000 sq ft of office space for use by digital media companies.
• A studio and design offices block with catering, reception and social facilities, together with approximately 38,000 sq ft of production space available on flexible terms.
• The Central Warehouse, incorporating up to 31,000 sq ft of office/wardrobe/make-up/production space as well as a music studio and a green screen studio suitable for motion capture filming, a key technique for animation.
• A further 56,000 sq ft of set and other storage space, plus additional production/office units in the second warehouse.
• Fast broadband connectivity and high capacity power supply.

The ERDF programme is backed by the Programme Monitoring Committee, a group of senior representatives from across the region. The group was formed to monitor, oversee and advise on the delivery of the programme.

Mike Emmerich, chief executive of Commission for the New Economy and Programme Monitoring Committee member, said: "This is a really important project for east Manchester and Greater Manchester as a whole and one New Economy is happy to have supported. The funding will help regenerate the area, whilst creating new business opportunities, jobs and harness talent in the digital and creative industries. This grant will enable the Sharp Project to complement the investment in Media City and maximize the potential of this key industry."

Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, added: "The creative and media industries have an exciting role to play in Manchester's economy and the Sharp Project is in forefront of what we're doing to nurture new businesses and allow existing ones to flourish. This funding, on top of the substantial investment which the city council has already made, will enable the project to create hundreds of new jobs and complement the development at Media City UK to underline the city region's status as a creative and media powerhouse."

The NWDA said the hub aims to establish a springboard for start up media companies who can grow within the Sharp Project, creating a talent pool for Media City UK. NWDA said that the main aim is to provide affordable space.

Design plans for The Sharp Project include areas of over 30,000 sq ft aimed specifically for large scale drama sets or single camera shooting space.

Sue Woodward, New East Manchester's project director for The Sharp Project, said: "The Sharp Project is about Manchester playing its role in nurturing the digital entrepreneurs of the future. We are basically providing the right environment for talented start-ups and established professionals in the digital and creative sector to flourish. What we have is very special. Not only are we fortunate to have 200,000 sq ft of space to create purpose-built facilities for digital content production, but we are fortunate to have super-fast broadband connectivity which we can tap into. The level of interest has already been incredible and we're attracting enquiries from companies regionally, nationally and internationally."

The NWDA said that The Sharp Project complements work on Oxford Road being done by Corridor Manchester to pilot next generation broadband to businesses and homes, which it is also funding. Fibre optic lines will increase broadband speeds by up to 100 times.

http://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news...f-funding.html