The Lincoln, Manchester
Grade A office building helping to reinvigorate an underutilised square in the heart of Manchester.

The replacement of the existing Brazennose House with a new 100,000 sqft Grade A office building provides the opportunity to reinvigorate an underutilised square in the heart of Manchester. The site occupies a significant proportion of the route through Lincoln Square between Spinningfields and Albert Square. Our proposals and the updated landscaping will provide the footfall and allow a more appropriate civic quality for this significant location.

The civic and historic context of Brazennose has influenced the façade treatments, materials, activation of the ground floor and the way the building meets the ground. A terrace at level 6 provides views to the Town Hall. The proposals respond to complex rights to light issues and provides a contextual response to the adjacent buildings and conservation area and a respectful relationship to the listed St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church behind. A new urban square to the east opens up views to the church and provides a unique urban setting and sense of place for the previously hidden St Mary’s church.

A light installation to Mulberry Square provides an illuminated backdrop to the public space whilst screening servicing and access to the basement car park. The typical upper floors are efficient and designed to maximise flexibility. Interruption of the floorplate is minimised by concealing columns in the façade thereby reducing the internal columns to 6.

The façade design, organised by a tripartite order (base, middle, top) references the adjacent listed buildings; the vertical expression, texture, and detail. Strong vertical piers along the building’s length provide mass and elegance to the facade appropriate to its civic setting. The piers increase at the base to ground the building within Lincoln square. A glazed pavilion at roof level suppresses the upper story and reduces the impression of mass.

The project is currently on site and is due to complete in 2021.