The client wanted to regenerate this existing building on Oxford Street, Manchester, a thriving student area on the doorstep of both campus universities, into a mixed-use development of mainly student residential accommodation.

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The existing building is a tired concrete structure, with a modernist language and rational window pattern. It sits at one end of a book ended urban block, with all buildings in between subservient in massing and style.

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On this basis it seemed logical that any extension should be of equal height. Due to the building’s solid language, it felt natural that the extension followed the same footprint to avoid a setback condition which is not common in the local area.

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To ensure the extension read holistically with the existing building, a brick slip cladding was chosen to unify the building’s language.

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Windows were enlarged to create a simple grid, which was used for the extension to follow the same holistic design principles.