WHEN Armitage Construction sent in a bid for the redevelopment of the substation and two neighbouring cottages on Jersey Street in Ancoats they included a poem.
Their idea for Ancoats is to turn the substation into new offices for themselves and convert the two cottages into a studio and retail space.
Amongst the weighty pages of the tender document was an Ode to Ancoats, penned by their financial director, Jonathan Clark, a framed copy of which now also hangs on the wall in the wonderful Crown & Kettle pub.
Here’s an exert: And in Beehive Mill, dance beats and rhythms speak to a new generation/ Where further along Jersey Street, redundantly sits the electricity substation/ Waiting to once again play a role, in this community of hearts, set upon cobbles of soul.
Whether it was his heartfelt words that won over the officials at the Homes and Communities Agency or the imaginative plans they have for the buildings who knows but I think this approach has huge potential. Developers should be encouraged to write a little ditty about the site they want to build on, demonstrate they understand its history, know the neighbourhood, care about the long term impact. Speak from the heart.
What could we write for the Origin site on Princess Street?
Jersey Street substation and cottages
Jonathan is just delighted they got the buildings.
He said: “There were six bids on the table, from some big players, but ours won the day and we are absolutely delighted. I don’t know if the poem had any impact on the decision but I’d like to think it did. It seemed appropriate.”
Armitage has history too.
The firm has been around for almost 140 years with offices in Bredbury and a proper yard in Gee Cross, Hyde.
It is currently restoring Elizabeth Gaskell House which is due to complete this spring and is repairing the Sackville Building for Manchester University, a major client.
See their stuff here.
Their idea for Ancoats is to turn the substation into new offices for themselves and convert the two cottages into a studio and retail space.
And there’s a certain serendipity about how this whole project came to pass in the first place involving Goldman Sachs, Manchester Metropolitan University and a car share.
Armitage won a place on the Goldman Sachs 10,000 small businesses mentoring programme and Andrea, wife of fifth generation Armitage, Daniel, went along as their representative.
There she met Jackie Sweeney one of the partners of Wigs Up North and as they lived close to each other and are obviously practically minded they ended up car sharing into Manchester.
Andrea explained: “As her business is based in Ancoats she parked the car there and we walked past the substation and I said how we would love to have that sort of building. We have a real passion for heritage properties.
“Well Jackie is also chair of the Ancoats Business Forum and said they should be coming up for sale. She was also looking for another presence in Ancoats for her business, more of a shop space, and it progressed from there.
“We will be in the substation, they will be in the houses with a retail area downstairs and a studio upstairs.
“It’s taken 12 months to get to this point but we are delighted the HCA think it’s a good solution for the site. I am sure many of the proposals were for housing but it really would not have worked and here we add a different mix to the area.
“A wig company and a construction company may not be obvious neighbours but you know I think that is what areas like Ancoats should be like. Unexpected and supporting. We hope to start on site late spring.”
The poet by his poem
First though they need planning. The redesign by Triangle looks great. Great slabs of glass to get light into the deep recesses of the substation with a glass skylight and a glass walkway over the entrance.
Externally the cottages will remain relatively unchanged but inside the ground floor will become a new retail area for Wigs Up North, and on the first floor a large studio for the company which provides hair and make-up for TV and the theatre.
Jonathan said: “I have worked with Triangle before and they immediately got what I wanted. It’s all about adopting and adapting.”
Originally from Sheffield, Jonathan is a Manchester convert and worked for a time at Artisan which is where he acquired his Ancoats’ zeal. In his heart he would have loved to have seen the substation turned into a bar, “a feeder for Sankeys...” and thinks now is the right time for independents to come into the area and add to the residential mix.
He said: “A lot of very good development has already been done in Ancoats and it has retained its identity and soul but you can ignite an area through leisure. It can be a catalyst for positive change.
“But offices was the right approach for the substation and turning the cottages into a new base for an already established local company adds a different twist.
“The fact that this was not a speculative development but had end users with an affinity with the area was obviously an added bonus.
“I shall just have to keep looking for the right bar venue here.”
…in Ancoats by Jonathan Clark
From New Cross Junction to Royal Mills
A revolution was born…one with a pulse now still
Where foundations were laid, for the world to see
How futures will shape...how it will be
Mill sirens sound, to mark the calling of time
On shifts full of sweat, in buildings full of grime
Where white collar tyrants and capitalism reign
In red-brick palaces, over a workforce...who strain
Who toil and age, on treadmills with no escape
...their only comfort – their wage
Echoes of matchstick men walking
Past doorsteps with mothers talking
By children who play, on cobbles of grey
In this dirty old town…in Ancoats
In the night, scuttle-gangs roam, on streets of mill-worker’s homes
“Angels With Manky Faces” - putting chancers through their paces
In territory games, badged by street corners as names
...in Ancoats
At Gun Street and George Leigh – stands the Express
Tomorrow’s news and yesterday’s blues, harmonised together...in press
The Crown & Kettle’s smoke ravaged ceiling still holds the stories
Of wedding singers, and funeral parties
A restored reminder…of faded glories
And in Beehive Mill, dance beats and rhythms speak to a new generation
Where further along Jersey Street, redundantly sits the electricity substation
Waiting to once again play a role, in this community of hearts, set upon cobbles of soul
...t’s future in retro
A landscape frayed and torn
Tomorrow in reverse
Beauty reborn...
