Defence Online

One of the developers behind Manchester’s £200m Kampus scheme is poised to secure planning consent for an £18m office development on the edge of Spinningfields, which will be known as The Silk Works.Henry Boot, alongside Vision Developments, is behind an application for 50,000 sq ft office space that encompasses the refurbishment and extension of Invicta House, located on Atkinson Street and Scott Place.The proposal involves the partial removal of the back of Invicta House and the erection of an eight-storey office building. In addition, the ground floor will provide space for a coffee shop or kiosk to be established.Invicta House is a Victorian building with “local heritage significance” and as such has required close consultation between planning firm NJL, architects’ practice Northmill Associates, Historic England and Manchester City CouncilA report to be assessed by the local authority’s planning committee next Thursday (17 November 2016), recommends councillors approve the plans, saying they would provide “high quality, fully accessible office accommodation” in a “key regeneration area”.In addition to The Silk Works, Henry Boot is the joint developer with Capital & Centric of Kampus, which involves overhauling the former Aytoun Street campus, vacated by Manchester Metropolitan University in 2015.Designed by architectural practices Mecanoo and shedkm, the first phase involves construction of 478 private rented sector homes, and 30,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space on the ground and mezzanine floors beneath two 12- to 16-storey new buildings.