Bruntwood SciTech, the UK’s largest dedicated property platform serving the growth of the nation’s knowledge economy – a joint venture between Bruntwood, Legal & General and Greater Manchester Pension Fund – is commencing construction on its £25m project to redevelop Manchester city centre’s iconic Pall Mall building.
The Grade II listed building, which is located on the prestigious King Street, will be transformed into a new city centre innovation-hub, offering 90,000 sq ft of quality workspace designed for innovation-led businesses of all sizes to co-locate together.
Bruntwood SciTech will protect and preserve the cultural and historical significance of the building as a high-quality post war site that is reflective of its time, whilst delivering a best in class reinvention of an energy inefficient asset into an operationally net zero carbon development in all of its communal spaces.
The redeveloped workspace, set across three interconnected towers and reaching 12 floors, will include leased, serviced and coworking space, providing opportunities for high-growth businesses to adapt as they grow, and offer a variety of flexible workspaces for large businesses dependent on their needs – either longer term leases, or more flexible, all-inclusive serviced spaces. Principal Contractor Dragonfly has been appointed to build the Sheppard Robson-designed development and local teams also working on the development include Ramboll as sustainability consultants, Deloitte as planning consultants, heritage consultant Stephen Levrant Heritage Architecture and structural engineers DWLLP.
Core to Pall Mall will be its wellbeing-focused facilities such as a free state-of-the-art gym and changing facilities, independent cafe, contemplation room, lounge and library space, as well as a roof terrace with panoramic views across Manchester’s skyline, secure EV charging points and a large cycle hub to encourage active travel. Biophilia will feature prominently in the development, including in a large outdoor piazza and revitalised entrance space set to complement and add to the rich heritage of King Street.
Ideal for socially conscious businesses to innovate and grow, Bruntwood SciTech’s commitment to achieving its ambitious environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals, also means that businesses moving into Pall Mall will be part of a culture that prioritises sustainable growth. In addition to being net zero in communal spaces it will also be net zero in construction, supported by the retention of the building’s original structure, which will avoid the need for significant rebuilding works and save 7,900 tonnes of additional carbon emitted – the equivalent of one passenger making 26,000 flights from London to New York*.
The new Pall Mall will include an all-electric heating and cooling system – with air source heat pumps and smart metering, a smart building management system (BMS), and new mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR) units to maximise energy efficiency and provide fresh air control to businesses. Once complete, Pall Mall is targeting a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating and EPC A rating – a significant achievement for a Grade II listed, 1960s building.
By locating to Pall Mall, startups, scaleups and global businesses will gain direct access into a UK-wide network of 1100 like-minded businesses across Bruntwood SciTech’s community, which spans 31 city centre hubs and nine science and technology campuses, such as Circle Square, Manchester Science Park, the recently completed workspace transformation of an iconic Grade II listed former Victorian bank – Bond, Bloc, 111 Piccadilly and Blackfriars in Manchester. They will also be able to access Bruntwood SciTech’s growth support, including direct access to funding and investors, highly skilled talent, new markets, and an extensive clinical, academic and public partner network.
Ciara Keeling, Chief Operating Officer for Bruntwood SciTech said:
“Bruntwood SciTech has a strong blueprint for creating innovation ecosystems, having undertaken significant projects across many of the UK’s cities and regions. We believe that these hubs are not only essential to the development, growth and success of many exciting innovation-focused businesses, but can play a significant role in transforming our regional economies and putting the UK on a path to achieving its ambitions of being an innovation powerhouse.
“Work commencing on our redevelopment of Pall Mall marks an important step in our mission to power economies through innovation, supporting Manchester to continue growing its support for the knowledge economy, and becoming a more environmentally sustainable city. Core to our vision for the building is to develop a workspace that caters specifically to the needs of disruptors and innovators, whilst also remaining acutely conscious of our responsibility to champion the building’s heritage and inherent character.”
Pall Mall is the newest major project to join those currently under construction across the UK from Bruntwood SciTech, since it welcomed the UK’s largest local authority pension fund, Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) into the partnership, alongside existing partners Bruntwood and Legal & General, in October 2023. Highlighting the crucial role that long term, patient capital can play in the growth of the domestic innovation sector, Bruntwood SciTech’s current projects under construction total £224.5m of capital investment and will provide much-needed workspace for science, tech and innovation-led businesses to scale. These include No.3 Circle Square and Citylabs 4.0 in Manchester, West Village in Leeds, and No.1 Birmingham Health Innovation Campus and Cornerblock in Birmingham.
Now the largest dedicated property platform serving the UK’s innovation economy, Bruntwood SciTech aims to create a £5 billion UK-wide portfolio that can support 2,600 high-growth businesses by 2032.
Pall Mall’s redevelopment is targeted to complete in 2025, and is supported by Savills and CBRE.
