One Piccadilly Gardens

One Piccadilly Gardens is a large office building in Manchester, England. It is located on the east side of Piccadilly Gardens, a large public square in Manchester city centre, and was built in 2003 on former public land, as part of the redevelopment of the gardens.

One Piccadilly Gardens
One Piccadilly Gardens
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Office
Location	Piccadilly Gardens
Address	1 Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester
Town or city	Manchester
Country	England
Coordinates	53.480512°N 2.236168°W / 53.480512; -2.236168
Current tenants	Allianz, BNY Mellon, JLL
Opened	2003[1]
Client	Argent Group
Owner	Legal & General
Technical details
Floor count	7
Floor area	164,600 sqm[1]
Lifts/elevators	4
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Allies & Morrison
Structural engineer	Arup
Services engineer	Arup
Quantity surveyor	Faithful+Gould
Main contractor	Carillion
Awards and prizes	RIBA National Award 2004

History

The future site of One Piccadilly Gardens pictured in 1979

The area now known as Piccadilly Gardens was donated to the City of Manchester in the 18th century by the Lord of the Manor of Manchester, Sir Oswald Mosley, 2nd Baronet, of Rolleston, on condition that it should remain in public use in perpetuity, on pain of the land reverting to the Mosley family.^[2][3][4][5]

With Mosley's assent, the Manchester Royal Infirmary was built here in 1755. After the hospital relocated, the Infirmary building was demolished in 1910. In the 1930s, the area was landscaped and a sunken garden was laid out on the footprint of the former hospital basement, with formal flower beds, a rose garden and flowering cherry trees.^[6][3] At the end of the 20th century, it was decided to redevelop Piccadilly Gardens, and in the 1990s, Manchester City Council sold a parcel of land at the eastern end of the Gardens to the Argent Group property developer in order to fund the project. Commentators have noted that the disposal of land apparently contravened Lord Mosley's injunction, that the land should be retained for public use in perpetuity. As a result of the sale, the size of Piccadilly Gardens was reduced by 11%.^[7]

Construction

One Piccadilly Gardens seen from Portland Street

One Piccadilly Gardens opened in 2003 as part of the redevelopment of Piccadilly Gardens; the building was designed by Allies and Morrison and has large glazed facades behind a red brick grid.

The building houses six floors of office space, with shops and restaurants on the ground floor. The entrance to the offices is via a double height diagonal void through the ground and first floors of the building which links Portland Street to Piccadilly Gardens.^[8]

In 2004, the building was awarded a RIBA National Award by the Royal Institute of British Architects for providing "a strong enclosure to the space" and for its facade which "reinforces the bond with the topography" of the adjacent Gardens.^[8]

Owners

Argent Group sold the building in September 2011 to Europa Capital. to Legal & General Property’s Managed Property Fund.in August 2014, One Piccadilly Gardens was purchased by Legal & General Property's Managed Property Fund. At the time, building was generating an annual rental income of more than £4.3m.^[9][10]

Occupiers

Office space:

• Allianz
• BNY Mellon
• Homes England
• JLL

Ground floor:

• ASK Italian
• Barburrito
• Byron
• Pizza Express
• Pret a Manger
• Shoryu Ramen

References

Citations

1. Allies and Morrison project page^{[dead link‍]}
2. Atkins, Philip (1976). Guide Across Manchester. Manchester: Civic Trust for the North West. ISBN 0-901347-29-9.
3. Glinert, Ed (24 April 2008). The Manchester Compendium: A Street-by-Street History of England's Greatest Industrial City. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-102930-6. Archived from the original on 18 February 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
4. Hartwell 2002, p. 188.
5. Parkinson-Bailey 2000, pp. 6–7.
6. Wyke & Cocks 2004, p. 162.
7. Byass, Rowland. "From public garden to corporate plaza: Piccadilly Gardens and the new civic landscape" (PDF). Journal of Landscape Architecture (Spring 2010): 72–73. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
8. "RIBA Awards for Architecture 2004". BBC Manchester. Archived from the original on 2013-04-19. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
9. Jupp, Adam (14 August 2014). "One Piccadilly Gardens bought for £75m". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
10. "Place North West - One Piccadilly Gardens sold in £67m deal". 20 Sep 2011. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2024.

Sources

• Hartwell, Clare (2002). Manchester. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09666-8. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
• Parkinson-Bailey, John J. (2000). Manchester: An Architectural History. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-5606-2. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
• Wyke, Terry; Cocks, Harry (2004). Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-0-85323-567-5.

External links

• Official website: onepiccadilly.co.uk