Project Name: Owen Street, Manchester

Project Type: Historic Context Appraisal, Environment Impact Assessment, Visual Impact Assessment, Tall Buildings Statement

Date: February 2007

Architect: Ian Simpson Architects

Planner: Drivers Jonas

Special Interest: The subject property was in earlier times the site of industrial buildings, which formed part of Knott Mill and preceded the 19th century. Once at the city’s industrial heart, the site previously formed a component of The Galloway’s Knott Mill Iron Works, which functioned on the site for over 100 years from 1830.

The Castlefield Conservation Area is one of the largest and most important in Manchester. The canal basins and wharves were so copious by the time the railways were built that the only practical means of introducing railway transport was by building viaducts. The result is a multi-level environment which is unique in the world.

Scope of Professional Services:
Heritage Architecture Ltd were commissioned to do the following:

• HISTORIC CONTEXT APPRAISAL: Limited research was undertaken to assess the development of the site and the historic context, including the preparation of map sequence and a ground level appraisal of the contextual relationship of a limited number of buildings and vistas within the immediate environs of the proposed development.
  
  
• ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT: Heritage Architecture Ltd provided input to the Environmental Impact Assessment and prepared baseline appraisals, an outline of historic background, and an appraisal of the character of the immediate environs.

VISUAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT: Heritage Architecture Ltd carried out a visual impact assessment of the proposed development in relation to other landmark listed buildings and the character and appearance of the Castlefield Conservation Area. The assessment included consideration of mitigation measures for substantial adverse effects and residual and cumulative/interactive impacts, using verified baseline and fully-rendered CGI views provided by others.

• TALL BUILDING STATEMENT: Heritage Architecture Ltd contributed to the Tall Buildings Statement, which was formulated in accordance with Guidance on Tall Buildings published by English Heritage and CABE (2003). The assessment included matters of natural topography, scale, height, urban grain, streetscape and built form in relation to: (1) Listed buildings and their settings; including the foregrounds and backdrops to landmark buildings; (2) Conservation Areas and their settings; and (3) other important views, prospects and panoramas.