Simpson Haugh’s Two St Peter’s Square resonates subtly with its neighbours

Simpson Haugh has completed Two St Peter’s Square, a 12-storey, 200,000 square foot speculative office building on a prominent site within Manchester’s newly regenerated Civic Quarter. The development replaces a group of four-storey buildings and is intended to reinforce St Peter’s Square’s status as a major civic space, following the relocation and expansion of the Metrolink Second City Crossing tram stop and the creation of a new landscape (phs: Daniel Hopkinson).

The building, which anchors the corner of the square, features intricately patterned tracery screens, inspired by motifs on the adjacent Town Hall buildings, and comprising six-by-four-metre prefabricated reconstituted Portland Stone panels, each weighing eight tonnes. The floor plates are punctuated by only three internal columns, and by positioning the core at the back of the building, unusually large clear spans of up to 18 metres were possible, with generous 2.9m floor-to-ceiling heights. The project, designed to Grade A specification and using stone, hardwood and bronze in the reception and lobby areas, achieved a BREEAM Excellent rating.

Designed for Mosley Street Ventures, the building is owned by Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, which acquired the site in 2015. It constitutes the final component in the rejuvenation of St Peter’s Square, masterplanned by Simpson Haugh in 2010 as part of Manchester’s Civic Quarter Regeneration Framework. The practice was also involved in the renovation of the Town Hall Extension opposite, and the Library Walk link building, which connects it to the City Library.

Simon Critchley, associate partner at Simpson Haugh said: “With every aspect of the design, we sought to lock Two St Peter’s Square in place, embedding it within its civic surroundings and creating a dialogue with the Town Hall Extension. The detailed tracery facades stand as an elegant marker for the square and reflect the area’s strong heritage”.

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