Designed in a neo-classical style by local architect, Harry S Fairhurst, for the English Sewing Cotton Company and completed in 1937, Arkwright House in Manchester’s Parsonage Gardens is undergoing a refit.
The Grade II listed building was purchased by Catalyst Capital, the European real estate investment and asset management firm for £11m last year and comprises ground and seven upper floors, totalling 86,970 sq ft, of which three quarters is vacant.
The plans for a comprehensive refurbishment and extension of the building would increase its overall size to just less than 100,000 sq ft.
During its construction, the last of the old Parsonage Square houses were demolished and replaced with eight
With the merger of The Cotton Company with Tootal in 1964, it was put on the market for three quarters of a million pounds with its staff moving to the Oxford Road Tootal building.
According to Place North West,
“Catalyst Capital will extend the first-to-sixth floors of Arkwright House, by infilling the three rear light wells, which will be extensively glazed to maximise natural light and deliver a finish that is respectful of the listed building.
New office accommodation will be created at the seventh floor level to create an open-plan office suite, comprising 7,000 sq ft with panoramic views to the south. The ground-floor lobbies will be altered and returned to their original form, providing open space with views directly into Parsonage Gardens. The basement will be updated with an improved parking layout and the addition of facilities for cyclists, including eight showers.”
