Parks, leisure and the arts Shudehill Conservation Area

Improvement and enhancement

Dantzic Street divides the conservation area into two parts of distinct character. Sites to the west, currently used for parking, have potential for commercial development with taller and larger-scale buildings than the eastern part. It is essential to ensure that the character of the existing buildings and the spaces between them are retained and even enhanced.

The frontages of new buildings should be aligned with the back of the pavement in order to maintain the linear character of the street pattern.

Enhancement of the unplanned open spaces in the area can be achieved by designing new, coherent spaces which may be bounded by new buildings. Such new buildings should relate to the existing immediate surroundings in height, scale, colour, form, massing and materials, so that their character is complimented.

Although Shudehill does not have an abundance of buildings listed as being of special architectural or historic interest, there remain several architecturally interesting properties and several street frontages have character and quality. Sympathetic infill would add to the completeness of the streets.

The character of the area is largely created by the unified way in which buildings are designed and grouped together, giving each street coherence and identity. New development should continue to express this individuality and maintain or enhance the street or space.

The proportion and rhythm of new buildings should be considered in the context of adjacent properties. Designers of new buildings will be encouraged to differentiate between the ground floor, a middle portion and a top part, in order to create a varied skyline.

Red brick predominates in Shudehill, with the exception of some of the larger buildings on Corporation Street. Other materials may be used such as stone and terracotta, or a combination of these with brick, but large areas of cladding, concrete or glass should be avoided.

In existing buildings, windows should be repaired wherever possible, but if replacements are necessary these should be of a similar type and material, and be set in the same plane as the originals. In new buildings, windows should be set back from the wall faces in order to create deep modelling on the facades.

The corner-emphasis characteristic of Manchester's Victorian and Edwardian architecture is also to be found in Shudehill and its use in new development will therefore be encouraged.

Signs and canopies should be carefully designed so as not to compete with, or conceal, the architectural details of buildings.

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