{"id":226576,"date":"2025-10-26T14:13:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T14:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/226576\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T14:13:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T14:13:19","slug":"hawkins-brown-unveils-pared-back-manchester-met-library-plans-after-cost-saving-redesign-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/226576\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawkins Brown unveils pared-back Manchester Met Library plans after cost-saving redesign | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Full screen in popup<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

The university’s redrawn plans for the replacement of its All Saints library<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

Manchester Metropolitan University has unveiled pared-back proposals for its new Hawkins Brown-designed library following a cost-cutting redesign.<\/p>\n

The original \u00a390m scheme to replace the university\u2019s All Saints Library, approved in February last year<\/a>, was a 13-storey building with a distinctive zig-zag design punctuated with small circular windows.<\/p>\n

But the university (MMU) put the brakes on the scheme earlier this year after admitting that the original plans had become unviable.<\/a><\/p>\n

Last month it revealed it had been forced to cut four storeys off the scheme and reduce its floorpsace by almost half<\/a>, saying the previous design had been \u201cdeveloped prior to significant cost escalations within the construction sector\u201d.<\/p>\n

Specialist library architect Schmidt Hammer Larsen, which had collaborated with Hawkins Brown on the original scheme, is also understood to be no longer working on the project.<\/p>\n

\"Hawkins<\/p>\n

MMU has now launched a first round of public consultation on the new nine-storey scheme and is expecting to submit a full planning application in December.<\/p>\n

The scheme will replace the existing All Saints building with a purpose-built, digitally enabled facility designed to support study, research, and collaboration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A portion of the existing All Saints building will be retained and refurbished under the plans, which the university said will feature light-filled interiors, flexible study areas, new green spaces, improved pedestrian routes and welcoming social areas.<\/p>\n

MMU chief property officer Andrew Fallon said: \u201cThis project is an exciting milestone for our campus and a cornerstone of our evolving estates strategy. Driven by a bold vision for the future, the new Library will be a landmark development, reflecting our commitment to outstanding education, world-class research, and a more connected, vibrant campus experience for all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The public consultation runs from October 23 to November 21.<\/p>\n

The project team has retained planning consultant Deloitte, landscape architect Planit and Buro Happold on multiple roles including structural and civil engineer, facade engineer, MEP engineer, fire engineer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Full screen in popup The university’s redrawn plans for the replacement of its All Saints library Manchester Metropolitan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226577,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-226576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}