River Street townscape and visual impact assessment

Challenge

The River Street Tower is located within the First Street area of Manchester which has emerged as one of Manchester’s most vibrant new neighbourhoods.

Solution

SLR’s Place team undertook the Townscape and Visual Impact Assessment (TVIA) for the River Street project, as part of an EIA for this tall building located in this area of central Manchester undergoing extensive regeneration. The application was approved by Manchester City Council and the project is currently under construction, due to open in September 2020.

The TVIA assessed the likely significant effects of the proposed development on the townscape and visual resource. The current trend for change in the baseline townscape of the local area arising from committed developments is towards high residential towers, set within the backdrop and context of lower massing red-brick warehouses and residential warehouse conversions. The large scale of the recently constructed towers and those currently under construction, within the context of the other committed developments in this area, fits with the focus of large scale regeneration encompassing tall buildings and mix of architectural styles at its core, to create a high quality residential led neighbourhood at a key point of entry into the City Centre.

Impact

Mitigation measures that addressed potential townscape and visual effects were embedded into the design of the development. The appearance strategy was grounded in local and city scale; a material palette of corten steel and glass responds to the local colour and material context; a simple building composition and form addresses context of local industrial and tall buildings; and associated landscape design proposals will improve public realm.