41 Spring Gardens: Manchester

Location: 41 Spring Gardens, Manchester
Sector: Landlord works
Project Size: 16,000 sq ft
Scope of Works: Design > Refurbishment (Grade II Listed)

The Brief

Claremont was appointed to complete the design  and refurbishment of 41 Spring Gardens (Grade II listed exterior), including reception, WCs, common areas and 4 floors of office space completed to CAT A standard, including ceilings, raised floors, lighting, heating/ ventilation, lift car interiors and re-branded graphics, whilst working in close liaison with the professional team; Associated Property Owners Ltd, BNP Paribas Real Estate and P3 Property Consultants. Claremont were instructed to create a dynamic, exciting and thoughtful interior design and refurbishment solution to provide useable and functional spaces, which are commercially attractive.  The space needed to be flexible so it can be easily adapted to meet the needs of prospective tenants and to equip 41 Spring Gardens with the ability to compete with likely competition in the marketplace and unlock optimum rental potential.

The Solution

In the reception space, Claremont was required to design an elegant and contemporary space, while retaining  all of the period features including the ceiling, mouldings, column heads and column bases. Claremont stripped out all existing  wall cladding, marble frames to the lift doors, staircase balustrade up to the first floor, lighting, signage, floor finishes, reception counter, curtains and glass lobby doors. The existing entrance doors were repositioned to form a new access into a secure lobby, creating a more spacious reception area. A black glass feature wall and a feature pendant light fitting were installed to give the area a sleek and contemporary finish, together with new  signage on both external and internal walls. Claremont stripped out the four floors of office space above and replaced all the lighting,  air-conditioning, flooring  and decoration, creating  approximately 16,000 sq ft of ‘Grade A’ office space.

The Result

As well as moving the entrance door, Claremont carried out other external works, which included cleaning the external stone and re-spraying the windows. The sympathetic re-design and complete refurbishment of this iconic Victorian gothic revival building has restored the structure to its former 1890’s glory. It now possesses all of the period elegance and charm provided by the architect Alfred Waterhouse combined with attractive flexible 21st century commercial office space, all situated within a most desirable location in central Manchester. Following the refurbishment and to celebrate the heritage of this most successful English architect, the building has been re-named; Waterhouse, 41 Spring Gardens. Each floor offers almost 4,000 sq ft of office accommodation and can either be let to one tenant or to multiple tenants, each  taking individual floors. The project was completed over 16 weeks and finished on time and in budget.