Contractor: BAM Construction
Project Value: £650,000
Architect: 3DReid
Stone Type: Sandstone
Official Opening By Her Majesty The Queen & HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
In 2007, the Co-Operative Group announced plans to move their offices from Miller Street and Corporation Street to One Angel Square in Manchester. CEO Peter Marks stated the reason behind this was due to the takeover of Somerfield and the Britannia Building Society.
Work began on the brand new headquarters in July 2010 with BAM Construction being the main contractor appointed. PMJ Masonry were tasked with supplying Durham Sandstone and installing this as natural stone cladding around the base of the building. Further to this, our stone masons cladded large columns from the base attaching to the glass exterior using specially rounded natural stone units.
The use of Durham Sandstone on the exterior of the building features large amounts of curving and the implementation of facia/capping detail. What made the project more challenging was the large soffits that were needed to the rear underground parking entrance.
This 16-storey building contains 325,000 sq ft of open plan office space and a large central atrium with two basement floors including underground car parking, auditorium and fitness facilities. An integrated energy system promotes renewable energy and CHP units can run on pure plant oil harvested and refined from Co-Operative farms. A sustainable drainage system stores and recycles water as needed.
This final building produced a truly striking image on the Manchester Centre landscape and gained the highest awards for its energy efficiency, architecture and overall construction.