Castle Wharf
Castle Wharf
Project details
Castle Wharf is a stunning, high-quality residential development that successfully transformed a pivotal Manchester city centre site, which had remained vacant for nearly ten years. Located in the historic Castlefield Conservation Area and built by contractor Renaker, this scheme comprises 188 luxury apartments and penthouses distributed across two distinct, elegantly designed blocks rising to 12 and 21 storeys. The development offers high-quality luxury living within the city centre, complete with exceptional communal amenities including a 24-hour concierge, residents’ lounge, gymnasium, spa, and an extensive waterside terrace overlooking the historic canal basin.
The design anchors the buildings with a sandstone plinth, echoing the materials of the adjacent canal basin, while the main facades feature a deep stone grid utilising Moleanos limestone and glazed infill. The project also features three levels of underground parking and dynamic shapes with cantilevered elements designed to retain key views of the Castlefield Chapel.
The Medlock Culvert
The site’s location presented major geotechnical challenges, demanding innovative civil and structural engineering design from Booth King Partnership. The primary and most complex obstacle was the alignment of the building’s footprint directly over the ancient, buried culvert of the River Medlock.
This constraint necessitated a highly specialised complex foundations design. The engineering solution involved an award-winning piling design that won a prestigious Ground Engineering Award in 2020. This specialised approach was crucial to ensure that the massive structural loads from the two high-rise towers could be transferred safely to the bedrock around the fragile culvert structure, rather than loading it directly. The successful design effectively bridged the culvert, protecting the historic underground watercourse from any disturbance or settlement while securely anchoring the new development.