Bold addition to Manchester’s vibrant Spinningfields district
Following our own visit to Manchester for Manchester Open we continue this month to focus on new and upcoming projects in this vibrant city.
ICA are an architecture and interior design studio, specialising in hotel, student accommodation and serviced apartment design and delivery. The ICA head office is based in Glasgow, with an additional base in London, the team work throughout the UK and today we are sharing with you one of their most exciting Manchester based projects.
Located in the emerging Spinningfields district, planning permission has now been granted on the 145 guestroom Moxy hotel, which is a striking contemporary building nestled within a mix of modern developments and historic landmark buildings and is the latest hotel to be incorporated into the KE Hotels portfolio.
A new-build 9 storey hotel ‘tower’ element is set back behind a retained historic decorative facade. The preserved façade is the only surviving original feature of the historic Invicta House, which since its construction in the 18th century has been the home of a variety of significant local businesses including a soda water factory, a manufacturing chemist, a hat works and most notably a silk finishing factory. The design of the new-build tower contrasts and complements the historic retained façade and is clad in weathered metal rainscreen panels. The perforated metal screens recall the punch cards of a Jacquard loom, an echo to the sites textile history.
The public areas at ground floor offer active frontages to surrounding streets and bring additional activity and life to the popular Scott Place Lane. The hotel brand ethos of ‘a boutique hotel with the social heart of a youth hostel’ offers the potential of a vibrant new destination within a unique building enhancing an already architecturally diverse and exciting area in Manchester’s city centre.
“The project represented a real opportunity to create something which celebrates the history of Spinningfields, from the subtle reference of the jacquard loom punch cards on the façade, to the local narrative revealed within the interior design. The hotel will be rooted in the history of the area and will hopefully become a vibrant part of Spinningfields future.” Nicholas Roberts (Project Architect)
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