Jon Matthews seeks further demolition on ‘sustainable’ Manchester scheme

Jon Matthews Architects has applied to carry out further demolition of a Manchester building that was previously earmarked for partial re-use as part of a £200 million regeneration schemeThe local practice submitted documents to the city council requesting permission to carry out a second phase of deconstruction of Premier House in Deansgate.Jon Matthews was appointed by developers Property Alliance Group and Starwood Capital in early 2021 to draw up phased regeneration plans – including a hotel and housing – for the 1970s Renaissance Hotel site.The practice received consent last October to refurbish the vacant and ‘dilapidated’ Premier House office building at the corner of Deansgate and Blackfriars Street, which sits on the south eastern edge of the wider site. The approved scheme featured three storeys of office space and ground-floor commercial units built on the ‘core’ of the existing Brutalist building.Planning documents submitted at this stage boasted that project backers had ‘embraced the ethos of The Architects’ Journal RetroFirst initiative [with its] strapline “The greenest building is one that already exists” in considering the approach to a sustainable and deliverable masterplan for the site.’They added: ‘The approach of partially demolishing Premier House and re-using the bones of the building, and by designing a flexible building which is adaptable to climate change and future occupant needs, will save approximately 20 tonnes of CO2 emissions.’However, the practice has now applied for a far more comprehensive demolition of the existing structure.‘It has become apparent through design development that retaining the structure of the current building and integrating it into the new office building would severely impact the deliverability of the project as well as resulting in significant compromises to the quality and usability of the new office accommodation, including restricting floor to ceiling heights,’ said the latest planning submission.‘As a result of this, it is now proposed to demolition further elements of the former Premier House building as a second phase of demolition and, separately, submit revisions to the new office building planning permission.’A 10m-wide strip of the entire building would be torn down to slab level on Deansgate ‘to facilitate later works’ under the latest proposals.Jon Matthews Architects, Property Alliance Group and Starwood Capital have been contacted for comment.The trio submitted separate plans in November to build a 26-storey tower on the Renaissance site featuring 300 homes and related facilities.