St Michael’s is a £400 million redevelopment located on Jackson’s Row in Manchester city centre. Led by Relentless in partnership with KKR and Salboy, the scheme is transforming a former police station and synagogue and refurbishing a historic pub into one of Manchester’s most exciting new mixed-use spaces.
Phase one comprises a nine-storey Grade A office building with rooftop restaurant, hotel-style amenities and a public square. Phase two sees the rise of a 43‑storey tower featuring a 162‑bed 5‑star hotel, 213 branded residences, office space and leisure venues. With architecture by Hodder + Partners, the development blends heritage with high‑quality contemporary architecture.
As structural engineers for the project, we’ve been enjoying seeing the project continue its skyward ascent.
A completed basement and rise into the sky
Across the project, construction is progressing well. The podium structure is now approaching completion and the building has reached level 6 on site. The final podium floorplate at level 7 is due to be constructed shortly before the focus shifts to the main tower.
Earlier in the programme, we completed the complex basement structure, which accomodates to a large swimming pool. The significant level drop between the main floor slab and pool base required careful coordination with the geotechnical specialist and concrete frame contractor to manage earth pressure and deliver a robust design in both construction stage and permanent stage.
One of the interesting aspects of the vertical elements of the build is the jump-form technique. This is an efficient method for the construction of high-rise building. The core structure is formed ahead of the main floor slabs by around three storeys, allowing follow-on trades to work in parallel. Pull out bars are pre-installed within the core to provide structural continuity to the floor slabs. This sequential, overlapping approach supports the tight programme and allows the tower to rise quickly and safely within the constraints of a tight city centre site.
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ST Michael’s is a project long in the making and one that will have a lasting impact on the fabric of Manchester’s built environment. The project remains on programme and we’ll be sure to keep you updated as we reach more project milestones.
