MIPIM 2012: Manchester-based Ask Developments has announced that it will deliver offices at its First Street scheme in Manchester with rents 30% lower than the city’s central business district.
Ask plans to build up to 1m sq ft of “affordable” offices at the scheme. First Street will be anchored by a 50,000 sq ft arts centre incorporating the merged Cornerhouse and Library Theatre Company and a 208-bed Innside Hotel from Spanish operator Meliá Hotels.
Speaking at MIPIM, Ask’s chief executive, Ken Knott, said the offices would be built in a series of flexible blocks which would be rented at around a third less than the core city centre. Knott added that it will be possible to subdvide and interconnect a variety of unit sizes vertically and horizontally.
Knott said: “The concept was conceived as ‘shared platforms’, much like automotive production. The innovative energy efficient base chassis of each building can be used in a variety of configurations tailored to a specific activity, or can perform equally well in its base model format. Internally, tall, airy spaces with floor-to-ceiling windows interspersed with useful working walls can be combined with street-level space and public and private amenities.”
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