Manchester’s iconic House of Fraser building could be turned into offices

The building which houses the House of Fraser department store could become offices as part of new development plans. 

House of Fraser is located in the Grade II listed Kendal Milne building, which under new proposals could be renovated and turned into 500,000 sq ft of premium offices.

The offices are set to support 4,000 jobs including 420 retrain jobs in the retail sector, which according to developers is a ‘huge increase in the level of employment across the site’. 

The new proposals would also see a heavy expansion of the building, with the ground floors of both buildings expected to become ‘more sustainable’ retail and leisure spaces. 

The ‘uninviting and dated’ multistorey car park to the rear of the department store would be demolished and replaced with a commercial building at least twice the size in height, under the proposals.

The existing Fraser Building would be completely demolished and instead, replaced with a Grade A office space across 12 floors.

To ensure the development becomes a ‘desirable office’, the outward appearance and internal arrangement of the building will need some changes.

To enable enough office space to make the project financially viable, a new rooftop extension will be required. 

The developers describe this as ‘striking and contemporary’, using ‘high quality, bold materials to evolve and complement the existing building’.

The two-block angular design of the buildings has been created to maximise the shape of the plot while simultaneously being a ‘striking design’ that will feature ‘glazing and solid panels that form a vertical zig-zag façade’ – something developers describe as a ‘nod towards the windows featured on Kendals’. 

The offices are being designed with people in mind, specifically, people feeling ‘comfortable, happy and productive’. 

There will be imported daylight, air quality and acoustic qualities to help create a more productive workspace environment. 

The building is set to contribute to the decarbonisation of the city in the long term and hopes to create a new iconic asset for the city centre. 

Due to the re-use of the building, the development performs well in the ‘Whole Life Carbone Assessment’.  However, the demolition and rebuilding of the Fraser Building will generate more carbon, but during operation, the building can achieve a higher performance, including solar panels on the roof. 

The removal of the multistorey car park at the rear of the development hopes to significantly reduce the number of vehicles in the immediate surrounding areas. The developers explain that this is a positive response to the recent pedestrianisation of Deansgate.

You can see the full plans here.