Hanover House Manchester , UK

Hanover brings together two Grade II listed former Co-operative buildings into a new Grade A office and retail destination, revitalising an underused area of Manchester and breathing life into one of its finest architectural assets.

The complex scheme involved the extensive restoration of two very different Edwardian Baroque buildings located over one city block. It now provides six floors of flexible floorplates delivering 8,284m² of Grade A office space as well as 2,905m² of retail and leisure space across the ground and two lower ground floors, with flexibility built in for the first floor to be converted also for retail use.

One of the main challenges of the development was how to unite two distinct buildings with different floor and ceiling heights whilst respecting the historic fabric and unique character of each. In order to create a coherent whole building plan, without compromising either buildings original features, a new full height glazed atrium was established to join the two existing elements. This housed core services and vertical circulation at the heart of the building maximising floorplate efficiency. The difference in levels has been overcome by the insertion of raised access floors and links bridge, which span the atrium leading seamlessly between the two original structures.

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