Piccadilly Gardens £25m plans

The first phase of an international design competition to create a new space in the area centred around Piccadilly Gardens has begun.Manchester City Council is inviting expressions of interest from urban design and landscape teams to transform the ten-acre site, with an estimated construction budget of around £25m.The move follows on from the council’s announcement in the summer that it intended to hold a competition and marks the formal start of the process.The area covered also includes Mosley Street, Parker Street, the section of Portland Street which runs alongside Piccadilly Gardens and the section of Piccadilly which borders the Gardens.The competition design brief has been shaped by views sought from Manchester, people and businesses in a conversation earlier this year which more than 1,700 took part in.There is a longer term aspiration to relocate existing Parker Street bus services if improved alternatives can be found.The design will need to retain the existing listed monuments and statues, and tramlines and infrastructure as well as the existing Pavilion structure.